Wyoming Catholic College Code of Conduct

Community Vision

Wyoming Catholic is committed to fostering a community whose love for the True, the Good, and the Beautiful permeates every aspect of life on campus.  Our campus code of conduct strives to reflect that love in relation to the demands of our unique intellectual program and the formation which we strive to offer our students.  We are proud of attracting the caliber of student who shares this dedication to our community and its customs as a part of his or her own character development.

Specific guidelines that our students follow are covered in greater detail below, and clearly spelled out in our Student Handbook.  They include a zero-tolerance policy for the misuse of drugs and alcohol, a business professional dress code for academic and liturgical events, an evening curfew, and a technology policy emphasizing the value of personal, rather than virtual, interaction.  Further, students are effectively made the stewards of this vision for our community, both by the emphasis placed on personal responsibility and the opportunity for students to serve as residence life staff.

It is very clear within the vision for our community at Wyoming Catholic that these guidelines are not in place as ends in themselves, but instead to create the opportunity for something great: that our students might encounter the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in a way which permanently affects their vision of themselves and the world around them.  Each of our policies, such as dress code, curfew, and technology, are all directly correlated to a good we hope to achieve: respect for the nobility of the academic pursuit and of the sacred; familial friendships within our residences; and a reverence for others and an embrace of reality.  Our vision for each student who crosses our threshold is that they truly become a free man or woman: free to act in a moral way, to think with the greatest minds of Western civilization, and to fulfill their calling in relation to the truth.  Wyoming Catholic’s code of conduct strives to be at the service of this goal in every aspect of our community life.

Alcohol & Drugs

WCC has a dry campus.   No students are allowed to consume alcohol on campus.  Students who are underage are not allowed to consume alcohol on or off campus.  Students who are of age are able to store alcohol with a student prefect for consumption off-campus.  Students are forbidden from using any drugs which are illegal in the State of Wyoming. Any violation of either the alcohol or drug policy entails serious consequences up to expulsion from the College.

Single-Sex Residence Halls

All College Residence Halls are single-sex.  Men are never allowed in the women’s residence halls and vice versa.  There is no policy allowing visitation.  Any violation of this policy entails serious consequences up to expulsion from the College.

Dress Code

There are three levels of dress code at Wyoming Catholic: formal, classroom, and casual dress.

Classroom Dress is in effect for all classes, daily Mass, and in academic buildings during the week.  It is the normative level of dress on campus at WCC.  Men may wear a collared shirt, dress pants, khakis, or dress jeans, with appropriate belt and with shirt tucked in, and non-sports shoes.  Women may wear a dress, a skirt and blouse, or dress pants, khakis, or dress jeans, and dressy shoes.

Formal dress is in effect for liturgies on Sundays and Holy Days, the Academic Lecture Series, and other designated formal events.  Men may wear a dress shirt (jacket is encouraged), tie, and dress slacks.  Women may wear dresses, skirts, or formal slacks and blouses.

Casual Dress is the minimum standard that may be observed outside of the residence halls at all other times.  Modest clothing is always required; hairstyles may not be extreme or unkempt and distracting bodily accoutrements are not permitted on campus.

Curfew

All students are expected to abide by campus curfew, which is at 10:30PM during the week and midnight on weekends and holidays. Curfew has been implemented both to foster dorm community and for student safety.

Guns & Weapons

Students are permitted to bring guns to campus with the provision that they are stored with the College according to its policies.  All students who wish to bring firearms to school must declare them to the designated college staff member and must receive the permission of the Academic Dean. Students are then able to check their firearm out for hunting or recreational use during the school year. However, students may not conceal carry on campus. Knives are also permitted on campus if the blade is less than six inches in length.

Technology policy

WCC recognizes the good which may be accomplished by the appropriate use of technology. However, also recognizing the significant distraction that texting, social media, and a constant stream of entertainment present to our students and their generation, our policy severely limits their encroachment on our community life. No televisions, television screens, or cable service is permitted in our residence halls, though movies may be privately viewed in designated areas on laptop computers. Full filtered internet access on campus is limited to academic buildings and our student lounge; connectivity limited to email accounts and academic sites is permitted in our dormitories. Students may not have either a cell phone or internet-capable device (i.e., an iPod touch) on their person while school year is in session. These devices are stored with prefects and may be checked out over academic breaks or times of travel, including outdoor trips.  For a greater explanation visit our page on the Technology Policy.

Discipline system

The discipline system of the school is overseen by the Director of Student Life.  Under the Director of Student Life are student prefects.  Each prefect is an upperclassmen who is responsible for a residence hall and for maintaining the campus code of conduct.

Fines

All minor offenses on campus are dealt with by student prefects through a monetary fine system, which are assigned by prefects and resolved through the Director of Student Life. Serious violations of our code of conduct, repeated minor offenses, or the presence of extenuating circumstances are brought to the attention of the Director of Student Life and ultimately resolved at his discretion, in conjunction with the Academic Dean and the Disciplinary Council.

Serious violations of the Student Handbook are reported by them to the Director of Student Life.  The Director of Student Life then takes serious violations of the WCC Code of Conduct to the Academic Dean, who can invoke the Disciplinary Committee (composed of faculty and student life staff, and chaired by the Dean) to decide on the appropriate response to the offense.