According to the student handbook, serious disciplinary cases are first referred to the Dean's Council, which consists of Summer School Dean Peter Buck, Dean of Students Christopher Queen, Director of the SSP Elizabeth Chapman Hewitt and the SSP's assistant deans.
The strictest punishment the Dean's Council can hand down is expulsion from Harvard Ohousing. To remove a student from the summer school, the case is referred to an Administrative Board similar to the one for undergraduates. SSP Assistant Dean Keith R. Moon says if students have drugs or alcohol in their possession, they are sent home with virtually no exceptions. "Almost in every case where a student has been found using drugs or alcohol, that student has been expelled," Moon says. Parents of an expelled student are usually notified, and in some cases the Dean of Students will notify an SSP student's high school or the college in which the student intends to enroll of the disciplinary problem. If an expelled SSP student has been admitted to Harvard, the student's application may be reviewed and in rare circumstances, the offer of admission may be revoked. Common Knowledge Students and staff both say everyone in SSP is well aware of the rules about alcohol and drugs--and the consequences of breaking them. "[Expulsions] happen every year and the students know if they drink this will happen," Clancy says. "It's ground into them at the beginning of the summer," she adds. "Drinking and drugs is the one thing they'll come down on you for," says SSP student David J. Quinlan. "We can respect that one rule." Still, some say the "one strike, you're out" system is too harsh. "Because those rules are so strict, it's hard on kids who make one little mistake," one student complains. On the whole, however, proctors say SSP students have been well-behaved, and the number of disciplinary cases is par with other years. "It's mostly just very minor offenses, like noise," Leung says. "I don't think [the number of students disciplined] is unusual in any respect," Moon says