College students who have been arrested off campus may be under the incorrect impression that they are in the clear – that their school will not find out about the arrest and they can’t be disciplined by the University for it. When in fact any police officer, prosecutor or anyone else can report misconduct to your college disciplinary office. And recall most student codes of conduct also apply to student activity which occurs off campus and even during vacation (read all about it here in my earlier blog post on this very dangerous topic).
I have had students arrested off campus by other police agencies who then report the arrest and forwarded the arrest report to the college in order to get the student disciplined by the University. I have also seen fellow students, such as RA’s (Resident Assistants), find out about an off campus arrest and report it to the college resulting in discipline.
So, my recommendation to any college student who is arrested is to use your right to remain silent and don’t volunteer information about your college status to the police. More importantly, keep the fact that you were arrested quiet and don’t share it with all your friends, roommates, neighbors and certainly not on social media like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!
