PRANKS—General Guidelines
(Revised by DAC, December 2005)

Students at Harvey Mudd College have established a history of practical (and not so practical) jokes collectively referred to as “pranks.” Some pranks are onetime events while others traditionally recur every year. Pranks are a regular feature of the HMC culture, but not at the other Claremont Colleges. Students run the risk of civil/criminal/campus judicial prosecution if they take or use property owned by the other campuses in the course of a prank.

Students planning a prank must be aware that public art is off-limits for pranking. Also, access to building roofs, fires and explosives are not permitted as components of pranks.

All pranks should comply with the Fire Code. For example, the following are prohibited:

• Locking others in rooms
• Blocking off a courtyard area
• Any other prank which does not leave at least two (2) unobstructed exits from any area.

Students who plan pranks that involve campus facilities or equipment, should let the on-call Facilities and Maintenance representative and the on-call dean know in advance. As a result, when the prank is discovered, Campus Safety and the college administration can verify the legitimacy of the activity and not disturb the prank. Pranksters should also leave a phone number and name at the site so that those with questions or concerns can direct them effectively.

Individuals will be held responsible for any circumstances that are the result of a prank, including financial, time or academic commitments. Pranks that are deemed unsafe or disrupt the business of the college will be reversed immediately. Pranks must be reversed within 24 hours of notification to do so.

Consent
(The following passages are excerpted from a statement written by Robb Walters ’01 and approved by the Dormitory Affairs Committee of ASHMC, September 2000)

Pranking really has few rules. The most important of these rules is that each prank must be reversible. This rule is widely thought to be a sufficient safeguard against pranks getting out of hand. It does provide a simple way to rule out many bad ideas, but it is not enough to ensure that all pranks will be seen as fun and harmless by all of the involved parties. The problem is that no prank is reversible if someone feels violated or offended. It may be only a small minority that would respond negatively to a given prank, but it is important for the rest of us to respect the right of those students to a non-hostile school environment. Hazing is illegal and cannot (and should not) be tolerated by the college.

The only way to do this is to put more emphasis on consent. This means that we need to establish guidelines to ensure that everyone who is on the receiving end of a prank has given their consent and is comfortable with the activity. The specific pranks of “whirling” and “showering” already have a strict consent arrangement. A person may stop the prank at any time at their discretion. It would be an Honor Code violation to continue against someone’s will. We have extended a similar arrangement to all pranks on campus.

We recognize that many pranks would be ruined if you had to ask those people whom you wished to prank for permission in advance. The element of surprise would disappear, taking the entertainment value of the prank with it. The solution to this problem is to obtain consent in advance. Everyone will implicitly give consent in advance to all pranks. Exceptions to this blanket consent need to be filed with the proctor of the dorm where the person lives. If you want to prank someone, you will be responsible for getting up-to-date information on whether the person you wish to prank has given his or her consent. This information will be available from the proctor of the dorm where the person lives. If you intentionally or unintentionally prank someone who has withdrawn his or her consent, you will be referred to the Judicial or Disciplinary Board Chair for violating the HMC Honor Code. With specific respect to pranks involving unauthorized entry, you must be sure that all the students living in the room have not withdrawn their consent. Additionally, bathroom and suite lounge space shared with a person who has not given consent must not be pranked.

If you put your name on the no-pranking list, you must not participate in pranks; if you put your name on the list only for a specific item, you are not completely prohibited from pranking others. You just may not prank that item of others. Participation in a prank when you are on the no-prank list is considered an Honor Code violation. You also cannot join the list to avoid retaliation for a prank you participated in.

Faculty and staff will not be participating in this system. If you plan on pulling a prank that will affect one of these HMC community members, it is strongly recommended that you discuss your plans with the Dean of Students Office in advance.