by Russell Minor
TC News staff
The debate between a student’s right to privacy and the public’s right to know is more clearly resolved by the passage of the Buckley Amendment in 1974. However, many people are still unclear about what is covered in the law, according to Dean of Students Bill Hughes.
More professors have been asking about what they should do if an individual’s asking for information on a student, the dean said. “If a specific teacher came to me and ask about this,” he said.
“It is a right-to-privacy law involving what an instructor can and cannot tell about a student’s record,” Hughes said.
“We are not releasing student records to anyone who is not authorized to receive them.”
Bill Hughes, Dean of Students
According to the dean, student information protected by this federal law includes grades, disciplinary actions, class attendance and telephone numbers.
“The only way we can release a student’s record to someone else is if they can prove that the student is a legal dependent,” Hughes said.
The dean recommends that individuals who want information about a student first submit to the Admissions Office a copy of their federal income tax return to prove the student is a legal dependent.
A person may also be given access to a student’s records if the student in question provides a written statement allowing the release of personal information about that person.
“We are not releasing student records to anyone who is not authorized to receive them,” Hughes said.
The Buckley Amendment was revised in 1992 to make canons’ police records more accessible to the student press and the general public. Nonetheless, TC prefers to enforce a stricter interpretation of the law, according to Don Campbell, chief of police.
“We will release the initial investigative report, but no supplemental information pertaining to the investigation,” Campbell said.
Hughes conceded that TC’s strict interpretation of the Buckley Amendment greatly favors the students.
“If I have to err, I’d rather err on the side of the students,” Hughes said. “We are going to do everything to protect our students and their rights.”