University of Virginia Library

75. Strict Rules for College Students
BY HARVARD COLLEGE (1660)[248]

1. IT is hereby ordered that the president and fellows of Harvard College have the power to punish all misdeeds of the young men in their college. They are to use their best judgment and punish by fines or whipping in the hall publicly, as the nature of the offence shall call for.

2. No student shall live or board in the family or private house of any person in Cambridge without permission from the president and his teachers. And if any shall have leave to do so, yet they shall attend all college exercises both for religion and schooling.

They shall also be under college rules, and do as others ought to do. In case any student shall be and live in town out of the college grounds, more than one month or several times, without permission, he shall afterwards be looked upon as no member of the college.

3. Former orders have not prevented unnecessary damage to the college, by the roughness and carelessness of certain students. Yet for their benefit a great amount of money has been spent on these things.

It is therefore ordered that hereafter all possible care shall be taken to prevent such injury to things. And when any damage shall be found done to any study room or other room used, the person or persons living in it shall pay for this.

And where any damage shall be done to any part of the college building (except by the act of God), this shall be made good or paid for by all the students

living in the college at the time when such damage shall be done or found to be done. This means damage to any empty room, the college fences, pump, bell, clock, etc.[249]

But if the person or persons that did these things be discovered, he or they shall make good the damage. He or they shall also be in danger of further punishment and fines for such misconduct.

If any student shall take any study room for his use he shall pay the rent of it for a whole year, whether he live in it so long or not. He shall be under promise to leave the room in as good condition as he found it when he first came into it.

Parents are greatly annoyed by reason of ill-treatment put upon their children when they first come to college.[250] This is because the older students send them upon their own private errands. For the future great care shall be taken to prevent this same thing.

All doings of this kind shall be severely punished, by a fine paid by such persons as shall do so. Or they shall receive bodily punishment if it is considered best. 4. M—, H—, and W— were expelled from college and their names cut out of the tables in the dining room. By order of the president of the college, this was done before all the fellows interested. It was because of the disorder and bad actions of these three young men toward Andrew Belcher. They killed Grandma Sell's dog and stole ropes with which to hang him. They hung him upon a sign-post at night, as one of them afterwards confessed before the college authorities and before his companions. And at the time it was not denied in any way; but two of the students afterwards got

the third one to say that after all what he had related was not true. Many great lies were told by all of them, and especially by one. And there were many reasons for the belief that they committed these crimes.