Photo of Belmont's Bell Tower

Community Accountability

Our Philosophy

Choices are like seeds. We plant them in our lives with every decision we make. Wise choices often bare good outcomes, like good seeds producing good fruit. Similarly, poor choices often bare negative, even harmful, outcomes. The outcomes that grow from our choices affect not only us but our communities as well. It's important, then, to think about our choices, so we're not surprised by what grows from them. After all, a person who plants an apple seed isn't surprised when he or she comes back later to find an apple tree.

Community Accountability helps students take ownership of this simple lesson. We meet students where their choices have led them, we hold them accountable for their choices to respectfully challenge the way they think about making decisions as a community member, and we walk beside them throughout the adjudication process. We want students to know our response is because we care about the choices they make but do not judge them as individuals beholden to their past. Our combined experience as educators, academic research in student development and our living faith inform this process.

Accordingly, we feel confident it will create a living and learning environment that empowers students to engage positively in the collegiate experience academically, personally and collectively.

Four students posing for a photo together on Belmont's lawn wearing I love Belmont teeshirts

The Bruin Guide

The Bruin Guide communicates critical information about your rights and responsibilities as a student and prepares you to be successful in negotiating the policies and procedures of campus life.