Alcohol, Drug and Firearm Policies

Haverford complies with all federal, state, and local laws, including those that regulate the possession, use, and sale of alcoholic beverages, controlled substances, and firearms.

Consult the "Fireworks, Firearms, Ammunition, Weapons and Explosives" section of this page for further information.

Arrests

Haverford Campus Safety Officers are not empowered to make arrests or to carry firearms. The Campus Safety Department maintains an excellent working relationship with the police departments of Haverford and Lower Merion Townships, which assist Campus Safety as needed, and cooperates with all Pennsylvania state and federal agencies.

Township police can (and do) arrest students for legal violations on campus, including underage drinking.

Blue Light Phones

There are 43 blue light emergency telephones scattered throughout the campus for this purpose. Each provides an instant link with the Department – no dialing is required – and the dispatcher knows immediately where the call is coming from. An officer is always dispatched, even if no words are spoken.

Building Access

Officers of the Campus Safety Department are responsible for locking and unlocking campus buildings according to the scheduled use of these buildings during the academic year as well as for special events. Employees’ access to the institution’s facilities is on an “as-needed” basis, and incorporates strict card access and key control procedures. Visitors to the campus seeking access to facilities must do so through an individual host, the sponsoring department, Campus Safety, or the Events Office.

During low-occupancy periods such as school breaks and vacations, the Campus Safety Department regularly checks and patrols the residence halls. During periods that buildings are not occupied, they are secured in such a manner that a student’s OneCard and key will not unlock the doors. Entrance to these specially secured buildings is by request to the Department, and upon proper identification only.

Access to Haverford’s residence facilities is limited to those with proper authorization. The Dean’s staff, employees of the Facilities Management, Housekeepers, and Campus Safety personnel may only enter individual rooms on specific business.

Card Access and privileges to academic areas such as labs are granted by the academic department heads and are maintained by Campus Safety. Access hours to these academic areas are determined by each individual department and are subject to change.

Lab/Office keys are issued by Facilities Management (after approval by Campus Safety), but they may only be distributed upon the receipt of an official request form signed by the lab professor or department head. A key deposit fee of $25.00 will be billed to the student’s account. The key must be returned by the end of the academic year in order to have the deposit refunded.

Fire Safety

Fire safety is a major concern of the Campus Safety Department and affects all members of the Haverford community. Each residence hall is equipped with automatic smoke detection systems that report to the Campus Safety Office. In addition, each student’s room is equipped with a single station smoke detector and there are fire sprinkler systems in all residence halls. Fire Exit Drills are conducted in each residence hall so that students become familiar with proper building evacuation procedures.

Fire

When the building fire alarm system activates, occupants are required to leave the building immediately. A representative from Campus Safety will advise you when it is safe to return to the building.

The College is required by state law to keep fire alarm systems in operation at all times, anyone who tampers with the system is subverting the law, putting other students in danger, and is violating College policy. These actions may result in the loss of College housing.

1. If you discover a fire or smoke condition, notify Campus Safety by telephone (610-896-1111) from a safe area within the building or by campus emergency phone. Give the Dispatcher your name, location and nature of the fire. If the building fire alarm system is not sounding, activate the nearest fire alarm pull stations located within 5 feet of an exit door.
2. Upon activation of a smoke detector or notification of a fire, all occupants should exit the building at once. Feel the door to your room before opening it. If the door feels hot or smoke is seeping in, do not open it. Seal off the cracks in the door with a coat or blankets and open outside windows for ventilation. Call Campus Safety and explain your situation, giving your name and location. Never jump from windows, especially above the second floor. Signal your location by waving a towel or bed sheet out of your window.
3. If the door feels cool, open it slowly. Be prepared to slam the door if the hall is full of smoke or heat. If the hall is clear, proceed to the nearest stairs and exit the building. Should you encounter heavy smoke while exiting the building, turn back and find a room that provides a safe area of refuge. Contact Campus Safety immediately. Become familiar with two escape routes from the building.
4. If you get caught in smoke or heat, crawl on the floor and take short breaths through your nose until you reach an area of safe refuge.
5. Remember to assist any physically challenged persons in your area to safety in the event of an emergency.
6. Once you have left the building, do not return for any reason. Someone from Campus Safety will notify you when it is safe to return to the building.

Cause of Fires

Fire can exist wherever there are combustible materials and some means of bringing them to kindling temperature. Too often, fires start because we allow these conditions to exist through ignorance or inaction. Some of the most common causes of fires at college fires include candles, careless smokers, over-burdened electrical outlets, cooking in dorm rooms, halogen lamps, exposed light bulbs, overloaded extension cords and smoking in bed. At Haverford College, the burning of candles, use of halogen lamps and large electrical appliances are prohibited in College housing.

The College prohibits the burning of candles, hot-plates, large refrigerators (in dorms without kitchens) and large high-wattage electrical appliances in College housing as these things can easily overload the electrical system and are known fire hazards and are a source of serious college fires. Also prohibited is the use of halogen lamps and exposed light bulbs as they have the potential to easily ignite wood, paper, and cloth. Students must not overload electrical outlets with extension cords or gang electrical strips and may never crush plugs or wires against electrical outlets with beds or other furnishings, as these have been a source of serious college fires. An electrical fire can burn for hours unnoticed in the wall before breaking through and feeding on the oxygen and combustibles in the room. Only safe, low-wattage appliances may be used in College housing: shavers, lamps, radios, televisions, stereos, computers, electric blankets, thermostatically controlled coffee makers and the like.

In those locations where smoking in permitted, if anyone in a student’s room or apartment smokes, they should always use well-balanced, fireproof ashtrays —wastebaskets or combustible containers must never be used. Cigarettes of any kind, cigars, and anything else that is burned can easily fall into cracks in furniture or smolder at the bottom of a wastebasket and go completely undetected until a dangerous fire has started. Often the signs of such a fire do not appear until the room or apartment is vacant or, in the most tragic cases, until the occupants are asleep. Before leaving the room or going to bed, make sure there are no burning materials in ashtrays or wastebaskets. Smoking in bed should NEVER be done as the cigarette and/or its ash can ignite the mattress and/or bedding and causes just the kind of smoldering fire that kills without warning. For safety reasons, fire doors must always remain closed to prevent the spread of fires and should never be wedged open.

Fire Prevention

Effective fire prevention occurs only when individuals are aware of the principal causes of fires and take certain simple steps to eliminate them.

For residents’ safety, individual rooms are equipped with electrically-powered, individual single-station smoke detectors with 9 volt battery backup. If a detector is chirping, it needs a new battery. Batteries are available from Campus Safety at anytime. All public spaces in residence halls are equipped with smoke detectors and manual-pull stations, both of which set off the building alarms. These directly alert Campus Safety of the emergency. If the alarm in a student’s room is triggered, the building alarms will not activate until either the student uses the pull-station or the smoke from the student’s room activates a smoke alarm in the public halls. Haverford College has recently completed a project that installed automatic sprinklers in every dormitory. Fire sprinklers provide the highest level of life safety protection available.

Fireworks, Firearms, Ammunition, Weapons and Explosives

The possession, use or distribution of fireworks, explosives, ammunition, firearms, and other weapons such as knives and swords is expressly prohibited by the College. The College defines firearms as any projectile firing device, especially those that are capable of causing harm to persons or damage to property. This includes but is not limited to conventional firearms (devices using gunpowder), all types of air rifles, BB, pellet and dart guns, any slingshot devices, tasers or stun guns.

No knives of any kind, with the exception of knives specifically designated for preparing meals, are allowed on campus. This exception applies only for students off the full meal plan, who also live in one of the residential buildings with a kitchen (HCA, 710 College Ave, and the Ira DeA Reid House).

Lost and Found

Lost and Found is located at Campus Safety. To reclaim an item, you must be able to provide a good description of that item. If that item is not there, Campus Safety will file a report and keep an eye out for it. If a student finds a seemingly misplaced item, s/he should bring it to the office.

Missing Persons

If a member of the College community has reason to believe that a student or community resident is missing – whether they reside on or off campus, contact Campus Safety immediately 610-896-1111 (or in person at Campus Safety). Reports of a missing person made to Campus Safety will generate a missing person report and initiate an investigation. (Students can also report missing persons to the Dean’s Office). Campus Safety will investigate reports and contact the Dean’s Office, Student Health Services and Counseling and Psychological Services. For International students, the Director of International Student Services will be notified as well.

After investigating the missing person report, should Campus Safety determine that the student is missing and has been missing for more than 24 hours (or sooner if circumstances warrant it), Haverford College will notify the Haverford Police Department and/or the Lower Merion Police Department no later than 24 hours after the student is determined to be missing. They will also notify the contact person that has been designated by the student. If the missing student is under the age of 18, Haverford College will notify the student’s parent or legal guardian immediately after Campus Safety has determined that the student has been missing for more than 24 hours.

OneCard IDs

Access to residence areas and many academic areas require an authenticated OneCard. Incoming first year and new students are issued a student ID card (OneCard) that is programmed to admit them into their residence hall upon their arrival or during Non-Academic Registration. While the initial card is free, there is a fee for replacing a lost card ($15).

Students have 24-hour access to their dorm building, and reduced access hours to other residence halls. Access privileges to academic areas such as labs are granted by the academic department heads and are maintained by Campus Safety. Access hours to these academic areas are determined by each individual department and are subject to change.

More information about the OneCard can be found at www.brynmawr.edu/onecard/

Policy on Reporting Criminal Behavior

Students are expected to contact Campus Safety immediately if they witness or are subject to crimes against College property (burglary, vandalism), nonviolent crimes (theft and fraud) and victimless crimes, violent crimes against persons involving assault and armed robbery; call Campus Safety. If the township police need to be contacted, Campus Safety will do so (although anyone is free to contact the police directly at 911).

An officer will be dispatched immediately to each complaint, and will evaluate the incident, take appropriate action, and notify the necessary authorities.

In accordance with Pennsylvania’s College and University Security Information Act 73 of 1988, and with federal Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, Haverford College provides information relating to crime statistics and security measures to prospective students, matriculated students, employees, or anyone who is interested. The Annual Security Report can be found at: https://www.haverford.edu/campus-safety/safety-information

In addition, the College’s Campus Safety Department submits an annual Uniform Crime Report to the Pennsylvania State Police. Crime statistics for the most recent three year period, which reflect the incidents reported to the state police, are available upon request and are compiled according to Pennsylvania State Police requirements using the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting methods. Although the College does not have a written policy regarding the matriculation of students with criminal records, the application and screening process used by the Admission Office is very thorough.

Any criminal conduct engaged in by an employee of the College is grounds for immediate suspension and/or discharge.

Roof Safety

No one except College-authorized personnel is allowed on a roof or ledge of any residence hall, or those of any other campus buildings and structures. Because of the risk of serious bodily injury or death, failure to comply may jeopardize a student’s right either to remain in current College housing or to obtain such housing in the future. Other sanctions may also apply.

Search and Seizure/Expectation of Privacy

Campus Safety is respectful of your reasonable expectation of privacy. Campus Safety will not enter a student’s room unless there is an invitation to enter or emergency circumstances (probable cause to believe a crime is being committed inside, possible fire, screams of distress, medical emergencies, danger to the community, checking on the well-being of a student, etc.). However, if an officer is in a place they have a right to be, anything in plain view that is contraband (in and of itself illegal or prohibited to possess) or evidence of a crime will be confiscated.

The College discourages students from bringing smoking devices into dorm rooms and apartments. Such items include, but are not limited to: pipes, water pipes, bongs or hookahs. Although these devices are not, per se, illegal, the possession of paraphernalia in conjunction with drugs or drug residue is prohibited.

If reasonable suspicion exists that possession of smoking devices or other drug paraphernalia are being used in conjunction with drugs or drug residue, it/they will be confiscated by Campus Safety.

Safety Tips

While the college is generally very safe, and Campus Safety patrols 24 hours a day, you should avoid any unlit areas of the campuses during the evening and night. Whenever possible, avoid walking alone at night; walk purposefully, knowing where you are going and alert to your surroundings.

If you are concerned for your safety, Campus Safety provides an escort service. They will also meet concerned students at either the Haverford or Ardmore SEPTA train stations after dark.

Lock all windows and doors when you leave your room; valuables have been stolen from unsecured rooms when students have ventured down the hall or to an adjacent suite.

Be especially careful to lock up your valuables. Campus activities draw students to central points, making empty dorms targets for thieves. Propped doors are an inviting sign to thieves and burglars.

Violence and/or Threat of Violence

Call Campus Safety immediately if anyone talks about injuring someone or you witness violence or a threat of violence.

In addition, The Campus SaVE Act (Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act) amends the Clery Act to include intimate partner violence in the broader definition of violence. The term “intimate partner violence” is defined to mean “any physical, sexual, or psychological harm against an individual by a current or former partner or spouse of the individual”. It would include sexual violence, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking.