Wake Forest University endorses, as a basic principle of University life, the concept of responsible student freedom, which carries with it the recognition by each student of the rights and obligations of other members of the University community.

The University encourages students to conduct themselves as mature men and women and invites them to participate in the formation of rules and to assume major responsibility in judicial decisions. At the same time, all participants in University life must remember that, by the charter of the University, the board of trustees is ultimately responsible for the University and for its operation. Wake Forest also expects its students to abide by local, state, and federal laws, as well as by generally accepted moral standards. Although the University’s role is not to duplicate civil law enforcement or judicial action, it may exercise authority for reasons appropriate to its function as an educational institution.

In keeping with its historic concern for students individually and corporately, Wake Forest has a legitimate interest in their welfare in and out of class, on campus and off. The University is concerned with student actions that are inconsistent with student obligations to the educational community. When, in the opinion of the University, the conduct of a student at any place is reprehensible or detrimental to the best interests of that student, his or her fellow students, or the University, appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.

Wake Forest believes in individual freedom, not as a right, but as a responsibility: freedom to be and to become. Attendance at Wake Forest is a privilege, not a right. The University’s traditions and principles, accepted by each student in his or her voluntary registration, evolve from the core of this individual concept of freedom and responsibility. Therefore, it is assumed that the student who elects to come to Wake Forest does so with the intent of being, in fact and in spirit, a cooperating member of this community.