Good Friend Policy
The safety and wellbeing of community members is of utmost importance at Keuka College. The Good Friend (Amnesty) Policy was designed and instituted in order to encourage students to obtain help for someone who may be experiencing a life-threatening emergency due to alcohol or other drugs by calling 911 and/or staff members such as RDs, RAs, or Campus Safety Officers. The Good Friend (Amnesty) Policy now encompasses those above mentioned life-threatening emergencies and other concerns of student safety.
The policy permits students to be a good friend and call for help without fear of being penalized in the College student conduct system if they themselves are in violation of the College's Alcohol, Tobacco, & Other Drugs Use policy. It also applies to the student experiencing the emergency, which should encourage students to call for help when a friend is in trouble.
This policy does not supersede the authority of any local, state or federal law enforcement agencies. (If law enforcement agents are present, and issue a ticket, Keuka College does not have control over legal actions.)
How the Good Friend (Amnesty) Policy works:
- A student who calls for help for someone else who may be experiencing a life-threatening emergency due to alcohol and/or drug ingestion, and other concerns of student safety, will not be cited for violations of the Keuka College Student Code of Community Standards. A hearing officer will conduct an informal administrative follow-up to investigate the alleged violations and have an educational conversation to address the concerning behavior documented. Resources will be provided to the student, as deemed appropriate by the hearing officer.
- A student who is experiencing a life-threatening emergency due to alcohol and/or other drug ingestion, and other concerns of student safety, will be cited for a violation of the Keuka College Student Code of Community Standards. A hearing officer will conduct an informal administrative follow-up to investigate the alleged violations and have an educational conversation to address the concerning behavior documented. The hearing officer, in lieu of conduct sanctioning, will assign the student an Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) Counseling Assessment (one-hour session). Resources will be provided to the student, as deemed appropriate by the hearing officer.
- If this policy is invoked by an individual student on more than one occasion, the responsibility for determining its applicability on a second or subsequent time rests solely with Community Standards.