Generally speaking, college and freedom go hand in hand. No parents, no curfew and no rules. This may be true in some cases, but at some colleges, the rules set in place by honor codes and university policies are sometimes stricter than mom and dad’s. The following five schools have honor codes and policies that are among the strictest in the nation.
1. Brigham Young University
BYU, a University affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, has been in the news recently when basketball star Brandon Davies was dismissed after reportedly violating the part of the school honor code that prohibits premarital sex. Aside from having a rule against premarital sex, BYU’s honor code also restricts homosexual activity, doesn’t allow men to grow beards (so No-Shave November is off-limits!) and allows women to only have one piercing per ear. The code also doesn’t allow women to wear skirts that hit above the knee, strapless or sleeveless tops, and it forbids hairstyles “extreme in styles or colors.”
2. Pensacola Christian College
The small Christian College in Pensacola, Florida not only has strict academic policies, like that students can’t proofread other students’ papers, but the honor code students sign also prohibits them from accessing the Internet from their cell phones, and students are prohibited from even updating social media sites from their phones. Even sending a status update via text is prohibited. Students are required to have a personal laptop, but they are not allowed to watch TV or movies or access social networking sites from those laptops. Women are not allowed to wear pants or shorts unless they are performing an athletic activity and their skirts must fall below the knee. Students are also not allowed to listen to music like pop, rap or rock, and they aren’t allowed to bring headphones to campus. As far as dating goes, off-campus dates must be chaperoned. There is a strict no-touching policy between males and females enforced. Working off-campus is possible, but women aren’t allowed to accept jobs that require them to wear pants, and students aren’t allowed to work on Sundays or serve alcohol. In addition, an off-campus job must be approved by the university.
3. Liberty University
Liberty University, a university started by minister Jerry Falwell, ironically has an honor code that restricts everything from public displays of affection to movies watched by students in their dorm rooms. The honor code of the university, “The Liberty Way,” requires students to abstain from watching R-rated movies. Author Kevin Roose, who went undercover as a student at Liberty, recalled that one night, several men were watching 300, which is rated R, and they were caught, fined a combined $350, and the movie was confiscated. At Liberty, breaking the rules always comes with a fine, and the fine for each “crime” is listed in The Liberty Way. Liberty also restricts hugging for three seconds, doesn’t allow dancing and prohibits students from participating in any unauthorized protest.
4. Bob Jones University
This South Carolina University not only has strict dress code policies like banning Abercrombie and Hollister clothing, but it also enforces strict rules for on-campus residents. All residents must check out before leaving campus, they must be in their rooms and quiet by 11 p.m., and all lights must be out by midnight. Students are also not allowed to have posters or pictures of celebrities, and they are not allowed to listen to rap, rock, jazz and country music or religious music that resembles any of those genres. The code specifically forbids faux-hawks for men and unnatural hair colors for women.
5. Clearwater Christian College
At this college in Florida, students are not only required to attend church services every Sunday, but also if they make a habit of skipping services, they can be put on disciplinary probation. This college doesn’t only crack down on church attendance, but on class attendance as well. A student is only allowed a few absences from a class before they are withdrawn. The college also has “double absence days,” which are days, usually the day before or after a holiday, which count as two absences if missed. If you have a professor who makes a habit of tardiness, the 10 or 15-minute rule doesn’t apply at CCC. All students must wait on the professor unless they were alerted that he or she wouldn’t be in class. As far as media goes, students aren’t allowed to have TVs in their dorm rooms, and they aren’t allowed to play video games after midnight.
What do you think of these schools’ policies? Would you go to a school like this?
Sources:
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/03/byu-honor-code-5-other-schools-with-strict-rules/
http://saas.byu.edu/catalog/2011-2012ucat/GeneralInfo/HonorCode.php
http://www.pcci.edu/pathway/offline/download.pdf
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/23679
http://www.clearwater.edu/The_Guide.pdf