Your college or university likely issued you official school identification upon your enrollment. You likely immediately realized how important and beneficial your school ID is. Attending a college or university can be a great privilege. Schools can offer extraordinary privileges, facilities, resources, and benefits well beyond those working citizens can access or afford. Your student ID card may have opened an exciting world to you, one to which you did not previously have access.
Yet whether you realize it or not, your school very likely has multiple rules and regulations relating to your use of student identification. Students can get in serious trouble with their college or university disciplinary officials for misusing their school identification. Avoid the temptation to misuse your student ID. Retain the Lento Law Firm's Student Discipline Defense Team if you face disciplinary charges over your student ID. Get the skilled and experienced representation you need to preserve your college or university enrollment. Call 888.535.3686 or chat with us now.
Why Do Schools Issue Student Identification?
Colleges and universities use student identification for several important purposes. For safety, security, financial, and program purposes, colleges and universities must control access to their programs, resources, and premises. Student IDs help them do so. Colleges and universities offer transportation services, medical services, food services, computer services, housing privileges, recreational privileges, library privileges, event privileges, and other programs, services, and amenities reserved for students. Schools must discourage or prohibit public, non-student use of those benefits. Requiring student identification is their primary way of doing so.
The University of Georgia's Student OneCard is an example. UGA authorizes its student ID for “access to buildings across campus such as libraries, labs, residence halls and other secured facilities, participation in campus recreation programs, at the circulation and reserves desk at UGA Libraries, purchase and use of student activity event tickets, university testing services, the UGA Career Center, purchase of parking permits, use of recreational facilities, treatment at the University Health Center, dining halls, and the Ramsey Center for Student Physical Activities.”
Why Do Schools Punish Student Misuse of IDs?
Colleges and universities issue student identification to ensure that their officials can properly identify students in important situations involving school safety, security, benefits, and the integrity of school programs. Colleges and universities must punish misuse of student identification if their efforts are to have any efficacy. If students and non-student members of the public could freely exchange and falsify student identification, then using ID to limit access to precious school resources to students only would be meaningless. Systems generally require some means of enforcement, or they fail in their purpose. Your school may punish your misuse of student ID so that student ID retains its essential purpose.
The University of Georgia's Student OneCard is again an example. The university's policy on OneCard use provides, “The UGA OneCard is non-transferable, and any student who uses the ID card of another person or who allows his or her card to be used by someone else is subject to disciplinary action.” Expect your school to have a similar provision. See other examples below. Enforcement is necessary to preserve school programs, resources, and facilities for your benefit.
How Do Schools Punish Misuse of Student IDs?
Colleges and universities punish misuse of student identification by making such misuse a violation of Student Codes of Conduct. Colleges and universities regulate student behavior through their Student Codes of Conduct and the associated student disciplinary process. Your school's Student Code of Conduct likely includes one or more policies prohibiting various forms of student misuse of ID. If you violate those rules, then your school's disciplinary officials may invoke your school's disciplinary procedures to charge you with misconduct. Your school could suspend or dismiss you from school.
Princeton University's Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities handbook is an example. It provides that student IDs, known as TigerCards, “are nontransferable and must be presented on request to authorized University representatives. TigerCards should not be lent or given to others even for short periods of time. Possession, manufacture, sale, use, or transfer of false identification of any sort is a violation of the law and of University policy.” The University of Alabama Code of Student Conduct provides a similar example. It provides that “misuse of any university document, record, or instrument of identification” is an offense against the university. Both universities' codes then have elaborate procedures for discipline of students who violate these student ID policies.
What Can Happen If I Misuse My Student ID?
If you misuse your student identification, you may face disciplinary charges that could result in your school suspension or dismissal. College and university Student Codes of Conduct routinely provide for a wide range of sanctions against students who violate school conduct policies. Those sanctions may range from a simple reprimand up to community or school service, restitution, loss of privileges, remedial education or training, probation, and school suspension or dismissal. Schools generally follow protective procedures before imposing discipline. You may face a disciplinary procedure and suffer a serious sanction if you misuse your student ID.
The University of Alabama Code of Student Conduct is once again an example. Its potential sanctions for student conduct violations include, in progressive order, warning, probation, loss of privileges, educational assignment, fines, restitution, work assignments, no-contact orders, restriction on residence hall access, campus ban, deferred suspension, active suspension, and expulsion. A simple misuse of student ID may not warrant serious sanctions. But the sanction depends on the full context. Misuse of student ID that leads to personal harm, property damage, or disruption of school programs could result in a severe sanction.
How Do Students Commonly Misuse IDs?
Students misuse ID in several different ways. The policy prohibitions of the various Student Codes of Conduct show those misuses. College and university student ID policies suggest these common misuses:
- loaning one's student ID to another student temporarily, or transferring one's student ID to another student permanently, because of the other student's loss of privileges or loss of a student ID card, for access to gyms, pools, libraries, dining halls, sporting events, and other activities;
- sharing one's student ID, user ID, and password with another student for online access to course materials, library materials, computers, computer labs, and computing resources;
- loaning one's student ID to a non-student friend or family member, such as a spouse, parent, sibling, or visiting guest, for access to campus buses, theater or concert shows, recreational facilities, sporting events, parking structures or parking lots, and other school amenities;
- loaning one's student ID to another student with suspended student privileges or to a family member or friend for bookstore, dining hall, or sporting or entertainment event discounts;
- loaning one's student ID to another student with suspended or limited privileges for the other student's access to a campus medical clinic for emergency treatment;
- loaning one's student ID to another student or non-student friend to show legal age to enter a bar or club, to purchase alcohol or tobacco, or for similar purposes to prove age of majority;
- altering a student ID to modify the name or photograph to reflect a student user other than the one to whom the school issued the card, because of the student's loss of a card or loss of privileges; and
- manufacturing a student ID card to replace a lost or missing card, to gain access to benefits for which the student would not otherwise qualify, or for sale for financial or other benefit.
Must I Carry My Student ID on Campus?
Yes, generally so, both as a practical matter and to comply with your school's Student Code of Conduct. If you don't carry your student ID card, then you may not be able to gain access to dormitories, parking lots, libraries, dining halls, computer labs, recreational facilities, printing or copying resources, bookstore discounts, testing centers, and sporting events or shows. You may also be tempted to borrow and misuse another student's ID, subjecting you to potential discovery and discipline. But your school may also encourage or even require you to carry your student ID for security purposes in the event that campus police or other school officials attempt to bar non-students from campus buildings or locations.
Princeton University's Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities handbook is once again an example. It provides that student IDs, known as TigerCards, “are intended for campus use only. Members of the community are asked to carry their cards while on campus.” New York Institute of Technology has an even stronger College Identification Card policy stating, “The ID card must be carried at all times while on campus and must be presented on demand to any college official.” Urban campuses with greater personal safety and property security concerns may be more stringent in their student ID policies.
Must I Show My ID to Campus Police?
Yes, generally, when asked. You do not need to volunteer your name and identification. You may wait until campus police or other campus officials ask you to show your student identification. But when asked, you should provide your identification. Your failure to do so may constitute a violation of your school's student code of conduct. You could face disciplinary charges up to school suspension or dismissal.
For example, as just shown above, New York Institute of Technology's College Identification Card policy warns that the student ID card “must be presented on demand to any college official,” which would clearly include campus police. City Colleges of Chicago maintains a similar student ID policy mandating, “Students are required to wear their student ID cards at all times while on campus.” Penn State University, for another example, maintains in its Student Code of Conduct that misconduct includes “failure to comply with any reasonable directives from University or public officials in the performance of their duties.” One such failure, expressly stated in Penn State's Student Code of Conduct, is “failure to present identification when requested….” If your school has a similar provision, then you could face disciplinary charges for refusing to provide your student identification when campus police or other school officials request it.
What If I Lie About My Identification?
You may face disciplinary charges if you lie about your identification. You must not give a false name or falsely deny that you do not have your student identification on your person. If you have already given a false name to campus police or other school officials, and they then request your student identification, you are in an untenable position. If you produce your ID, they'll know you've lied about your name. If you refuse to produce your ID, you may face charges for that refusal. Thus, it is better not to lie to school officials in any situation.
For example, Penn State's Student Code of Conduct states that “providing false or misleading information during a resolution process or providing false or misleading information to a person acting in their capacity as a university or public official” constitutes misconduct. You could face disciplinary charges up to suspension or dismissal for lying about your name or falsely denying that you have your student ID on you.
Must I Tell Local Police that I Am a Student?
Not generally. You generally have a right to remain silent and not to incriminate yourself relating to criminal misconduct. If local police engage you in discussion, you may generally walk away without answering questions or showing your student ID, unless police have detained you. Do not resist arrest or detention, and do not flee when police order you to stop or attempt to restrain you.
When stopped and detained, state statute may require that you identify yourself, telling the police your name when asked. About half of U.S. states, including New York, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, have these so-called stop-and-identify statutes. But those laws do not generally require disclosure of student status. And even in those states, police must generally have reasonable suspicion that you have committed a crime, are committing a crime, or are about to commit a crime to stop you and require you to identify yourself.
If the police question whether you are lawfully on school property, then it may benefit you to disclose that you are a student. For that reason, you may wish to show them your school ID. But you must not misrepresent anything to the police. You may face criminal charges if you do so. Do not give police a fictitious name or show them false ID. Remain silent, and request an attorney, if police detain you under suspicion of crime.
Will Local Police Tell My School of My Alleged Misconduct?
Probably yes, if your off-campus misconduct is serious enough. If police suspect that you committed a crime off campus, and the crime may relate to whether the school community is safe and secure with you on campus, then the police will likely notify school officials of your alleged crime so that school officials can protect the school community. Off-campus crimes of violence, like assault with a deadly weapon, sexual assault, and robbery, or serious crimes of property damage like arson, may lead police and school officials to believe that you are a safety and security risk on campus. If and when police learn of your student status, which they likely will do from others if not from you, they will likely notify school officials under those circumstances.
Local police and campus disciplinary officials often have a relatively close and cordial relationship. Boston College is an example. Boston College's Student Code of Conduct advises students that college disciplinary officials collaborate with the Boston Police Department on student workshops to help students learn the risks to their college schooling of off-campus misconduct that suggests their unfitness for campus life. Those workshops focus on off-campus weekend nightlife, including underage drinking and associated crime.
What Might School Officials Do If Notified of My Off-Campus Crime?
If police notify your school that they suspect you committed a serious off-campus crime, school officials may initiate disciplinary proceedings against you to temporarily or permanently bar you from campus for the safety of students and school personnel, and the security of the campus. Campus bans can occur around criminal investigations and charges over assault with a deadly weapon, domestic or dating violence, arson, weapons possession charges, and even drug delivery. Do not confuse the criminal investigation and any criminal court charges with school disciplinary charges. The local prosecutor may not pursue criminal court charges, but your school may pursue school suspension or expulsion over the same matter. The proof standards are very different, beyond a reasonable doubt for criminal cases but typically only a preponderance of the evidence for school discipline.
The University of Florida's Student Conduct Code, for instance, provides, “The University may apply the Student Conduct Code and Student Honor Code to Students whose conduct may have an adverse impact on the health, safety, or welfare of people, property, the University Community, or the pursuit of its objectives, regardless of where such conduct occurs, even if off campus.” The University of Rochester's Standards of Student Conduct have a similar policy stating, “Students may be subject to the University conduct system for allegations of misconduct that occurs on University property, or that occurs off campus if such off campus conduct is associated with a University activity, or raises considerable concerns that the individual or group poses a threat to the safety or welfare of the University community.”
What If My School Suspends My Student Privileges and Discounts?
Colleges and universities sometimes suspend or limit students from using their student ID for school privileges and discounts. If, for instance, the school suspends the student for one or more terms, or the student withdraws from school, the student may well lose student privileges until reinstated or re-enrolled. If your school suspends or limits your student privileges, don't attempt to use your student identification to obtain those privileges. Doing so would likely violate your school's Student Code of Conduct against falsifying identification or misusing school ID. You could face further school discipline.
If, on the other hand, you use a suspended school ID for a discount or other privilege from a private vendor rather than from your school, your school is unlikely to discipline you for that offense. The private vendor may have recourse against you to recover the discount, although the likelihood of it taking the trouble to do so may be relatively small, especially if the discount is small. But any such misuse, even a private misuse, of suspended school ID would likely constitute a civil fraud and may, in some circumstances, qualify as criminal fraud. The potential civil and criminal liability isn't worth the discount. Don't misuse your school ID. Honesty remains the best policy.
What Is at Stake in Disciplinary Charges over Student ID?
You have everything your college or university offers you at stake when facing disciplinary charges over misuse of student ID. You have already seen that your college or university could suspend or expel you for misusing your student ID, especially if that use led to some actual harm or substantial risk of serious harm. Misuse of ID is a moral wrong, a violation that implicates your good character for truthfulness. Even if you do not suffer suspension or expulsion, a misconduct finding could disqualify you from scholarships, awards, references, recommendations, and future educational and vocational opportunities. Your reputation is your greatest asset, especially when you are in school and relatively young. Don't risk your reputation and education to disciplinary charges for misuse of student ID. Get our help now.
Premier Student Defense Services Available
Retain the Lento Law Firm's Student Discipline Defense Team if you face disciplinary charges over your student ID. We have successfully defended hundreds of students nationwide against all manner of misconduct charges, including charges involving false identification or misuse of student ID. Call 888.535.3686 or chat with us now.
