Fidelitas et Integritas? Administration Must Also Follow the Student Handbook
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102nd Masthead
The school handbook clearly states: “Choate Rosemary Hall believes that an individual’s privacy should be respected. We define privacy as the kind and degree of knowledge concerning one another that is appropriate to have. We recognize that the electronic world, because of its ability to collect and disseminate information quickly, will challenge traditional conceptions of privacy. The school will continue to uphold a respect for individual privacy to the best of its ability and within the guidelines set forth for each constituency of the school community.” An incident with a News reporter a few weeks ago illustrates a changing view of privacy of information and the lack of respect for the actual rules the administration shows in making decisions.
A reporter’s laptop was taken (and later searched) against his consent by his dean, stemming from controversy over files that he had taken to archive for a News story on an access hole found on Chip. In January 2007, this “access hole” appeared on CHIP for a short period of time. Files and information, ranging from student grades to the 2006 ITS budget, to prefect applications submitted, were unintentionally released through the eContent tab on CHIP and became accessible to any student. Shortly after, Mr. Andrew Speyer, Director of ITS, issued an apology in the News article for the mistake on the part of ITS, and sent an email requiring all students who had saved the various files to remove them from student hard drives. This News reporter, however, kept the files saved on his personal computer for the benefit of The News and future stories that the paper may run.
ITS became aware of these records on this reporter’s hard drive during an interview for another publication the reporter conducted with an ITS staff member. The reporter made an “off the record” comment revealing his possession of these files. Even though the reporter claimed the files were on a computer at his home residence away from Choate, ITS and the administration became suspicious that he also saved the files on his personal computer at Choate. Shortly after the school learned of the reporter’s files, the reporter was forced to give up his personal computer to the deans office and ITS for a computer search during which he was denied the right to be present.
The News does not condone this reporter’s actions; however, we call into question the protocol used in this search by the deans and ITS, who compared the computer search and seizure to a room search.
We believe every student has some right to privacy and expect that the administration, to some degree, believes this too. In most cases, such as in recent room searches or in carrying out drug tests, the school is meticulous in executing its “invasion of privacy” in order to avoid possible lawsuits and to maintain the integrity of the school.
In this particular incident, it seems, the pressure from the director of ITS, and his insistence of having the computer searched immediately, pushed the Dean’s office into seizing this student’s computer without the due process of the current room search procedure, which requires the school to, according to the handbook, consult beforehand with the chair of the judicial committee, who has not been informed in this case, and allow the subjected student to be present during the search, which he was barred from doing in this instance.
This apparent violation of school procedure makes The News uncomfortable since an unreasonable search like this, which does not follow protocol, could eventually lead to a school in which student privacy rights are diminished. With less privacy and the abandonment of protocols laid out in the student handbook, there would be no fidelity and integrity to base our school upon, thus doing injury to our school’s motto.
The News challenges the administration to resist pressure from external sources, to make decisions that reflect a symbiotic cohesion between the faculty and students, and to not perform unreasonable or unfounded searches just to flex its muscles.
The News intends to examine the issue of privacy in an investigative article this fall. In the meantime, we urge the administration to move deliberately with regard to existing policies such as electronic searches and rule changes that it may be considering this summer.
