Berea College

Residence hall exterior doors are locked around the clock. Residents have key or card access and visitors must be accompanied by residents to obtain access to the residence halls. Fines are levied for propping doors and for use of alarmed doors.

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After hours building access is limited to one guest per resident, signed in and accompanied by the resident. Upper class halls allow in-room visitors during limited periods, and in-room visitors are permitted during hall-sponsored open houses.

While the College respects the personal privacy of students in their residence hall rooms, provisions are made for staff to enter rooms in the event of a clear and present danger and, under certain conditions, when a search for prohibited items has been authorized. Residence halls can be entered for routine maintenance or safety inspections.

Students enjoy dual citizenship in general society and in an academic community. Berea College makes no attempt to shield its students from consequences of their actions, thus status as a Berea student does not exempt anyone from local, state, or federal laws. In fact, being a member of an educational institution imposes an additional obligation to abide by all the rules of the institution. Laws and the College’s conduct rules operate independently, though Public Safety and law enforcement agencies work cooperatively. When a crime has been committed, the College is obligated to notify the proper authorities so they may discharge their duty under the law. In such a case, the law does not substitute for Berea College’s rules and the College may pursue its own procedures for adjudicating alleged violations of the College’s conduct rules independent of any legal proceedings. Public Safety reports to the appropriate department on violations of College policies and regulations.

Part of the responsibility of residents living in a residence hall community is to help safeguard the living environment. Because of this, residents are encouraged to keep their rooms locked at all times (even while they are in the room). Residents should report individuals who seem to be suspicious, tampering with locks, etc., to a staff member or to Public Safety (ext. 3333) right away. Doors are not to be propped open. Residents are advised to be particularly security minded during check-in/check-out, holiday breaks or whenever fewer residents are in the halls. Public Safety officers’ duties include securing building entrances and aiding in the resolution of disturbances.

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Under no circumstances is any student permitted to have duplicate keys made for any College lock.&nbsp;Keys issued to students by the College are not to be transferred to individuals who are not authorized to possess the keys. Students are responsible for the loss or misuse of all keys issued to them.

Students may not replace, damage, tamper with or vandalize any College lock or security device. If your keys are missing, please report this to your hall staff or Student Life Team member for assistance.

Each resident is allowed three lockouts per academic year with no penalty. For any subsequent lockouts, the Student Life Team member may assess a $25.00 charge per lockout.

Many of our residence halls are on electronic access control, allowing their student ID to open their residence hall rooms.&nbsp; If a student loses their student ID, this should be immediately reported to Public Safety, who can deactivate and issue a new card to the student.&nbsp; Student ID’s should not be given to other students to grant them unauthorized access.

<a href="https://bereaedu.wpenginepowered.com/public-safety/wp-content/uploads/sites/44/2019/06/BC_Key_Policy_Rev041818_Current_In_Use.docx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Berea College Key Policy</a>

Residence Hall Security