Not a tattle tale: Despite new policy, Princeton won't notify parents

During the summer, the U.S. Congress passed a federal policy addendum granting universities the legal right to inform parents of all student drug and alcohol infractions. But in interviews this week, University officials said they have no plans to change Princeton's discipline policies to adopt this practice.

The addendum modifies the provisions set forth by the Buckley Amendment enacted more than two decades ago. The Buckley Amendment — also known as the Family Educational Right to Privacy Act of 1974 — affords students certain rights of privacy with respect to their educational records. These provisions include the right to review one's academic and disciplinary records, the right to request the amendment of records believed to be inaccurate and the right to consent to the disclosure of one's records to third parties.

The amendment applies to a student's disciplinary records, including drug and alcohol infractions, according to Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Marianne Waterbury.

She said, however, the University typically does not inform parents of disciplinary infractions unless they result in suspension or expulsion.

"We don't inform parents of any infractions unless they result in separation from the University," Waterbury said. "The reason parents are informed if there is a separation is because they should know if their child is no longer at the University — especially if they're paying the bills."

Administrators do — in some special or extreme cases — inform parents of drugand alcohol-related infractions even if separation from the University does not occur, said Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan.

"If we believe that a student is putting himself or herself in a chronic, dangerous situation by their abuse of a substance, for medical or other reasons, it's possible we might talk with their parents," Deignan said. "But we don't do that secretly. The student would know."

"It's a judgment call we have to make," she said. "It happens very, very infrequently."

Deignan added that she is unsure whether adopting a policy of notifying parents of minor alcohol infractions would reduce drinking among students.

Yale University also has adopted a stance similar to Princeton's. But administrators there did consider changing their policy to inform parents of all drugand alcohol-related violations after the federal addendum was passed.

Waterbury said, however, that she and her colleagues have not discussed the addendum and that it is unlikely Princeton will change its policy in the near future.

"We encourage students to become self-reliant, mature, young adults able to make decisions on their own behalf," Waterbury said.

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Deignan said the policies outlined in "Rights, Rules, Responsibilities" have been in place at the University for a long time. "We're fairly satisfied that our policy works pretty well," she said.