Responsibilities to Community: A Statement of Ideals and Expectations
As an educational institution committed to engendering the highest human and spiritual values in a Christian context that welcomes students of all faiths and backgrounds, a basic expectation of acting in terms of the highest moral principles is explicit. All students, as members of this community, are expected to live conscious of the kind of community Berea College is and of each individual’s contribution to sustaining that community. Thus, each and every student is expected:
- To practice and promote in others commitment to the common good of the Berea College community;
- To practice and promote in others respect for the dignity of every person;
- To practice and promote in others personal integrity and honesty;
- To practice and promote in others mutual trust as a foundation of community life;
- To practice and promote in others responsible choices bound by respect for others' rights;
- To practice and promote responsible, respectful inquiry and expression of ideas, whether by individuals, groups, or Berea College.
The Berea College community, as a steward of the Christian principles that brought Berea College into being, recognizes its responsibility to provide guidance for students in important areas of interaction and conduct. Drawing upon this historical inheritance and the challenges it poses to us all, we expect of our students high standards of personal conduct: to exercise tolerance and conflict resolution over violence and intimidation, to choose honesty in and out of the classroom, and to respect human sexual integrity in a way that encourages mature and faithful relationships and resists casual intimacy without responsibility. We encourage respect for the law while supporting the principle of nonviolent civil disobedience for reasons of conscience.
All students are expected to pursue these ideals in their own lives and to promote them in the lives of others. Berea College commits itself to guiding students in pursuing these ideals.