As a member of the College, you will be part of a community. In fact, obviously, of more than one. Within the College itself, you will join a group of future leaders; the cohort of students comprising your year; those studying your subject; perhaps a sports team, orchestra, dramatic company, or something of that kind; the group of students living in your vicinity; as well as your set of friends, and other, less clearly defined but nonetheless real, groupings.

Membership of a community is empowering; but, to safeguard the community, the empowerment comes at the price of restrictions, or with strings attached. This part of the handbook identifies some of the more concrete vehicles of empowerment flowing from your membership of the college, but also (at greater length!) the strings and restrictions. So it covers the College’s common room and sports facilities; the chapel; the facilities and groundrules for holding parties, dinners, meetings and other functions in the College; and the rules and procedures in regard to discipline in the College.

The common room is usually a good place to start.  There are vending machines, and tea, tea-time food and stationary are sold there between 4 and 5.30. There are also newspapers, magazines, two televisions, DVD and VCR machines, and a games console. The JCR has a collection of DVDs that can be borrowed by members: you need to sign them out during the tea period. You can borrow games for the games console from the lodge, depositing your card in exchange . If you borrow a DVD or a game, you are held personally responsible in the event of theft or damage.

The college has a number of public rooms and open spaces that you are able to use for holding rehearsals, meetings, dinners, parties and other functions, the sportsgrounds and pavilions. You are also able to hold parties and other functions in your own room in the college or other college property. This section gives guidance, and explains the rules, about doing so. If you have any queries, you should not hesitate to contact the Admissions department. To hold any function, whether in a public room or space or in your own room, you need to obtain a booking form from the College; complete it; and take it in person to the Admissions office. For a dinner or any other function requiring food, drink, or staff involvement, or one to be held in the sportsground or pavilion, the booking must be made at least two weeks before the proposed event. Such functions must finish, and your guests must leave, by 11.30 pm Sunday to Friday, and 12.30 am on Saturdays. Depending to some extent on the location, the Director of Studies  may not permit them during examination periods.

To a very large extent, College life runs smoothly without the need for formal statements about what kinds of behaviour are required and forbidden, or about the disciplinary consequences in the event of a transgression. Everyone understands the ordinary norm of consideration for others, and acts on the basis of wanting College to be a successful community, doing their own bit to keep it that way, or indeed to make it better. If there are sources of potential difficulty, we try to identify them and deal with them constructively before further problems arise.

A particular word about noise. In the terms of the rules printed below, you must not make so much noise that you cause, or create a real danger of, distress to other members of the College community. As you see, the yardstick here is the effect on the hearer, rather than some abstract standard of what is tolerable, or your own opinions about this. So you need to adjust your noisiness to your surroundings. Bear in mind also that what causes distress depends not only on the volume but also on the quality of the sound, the place (some college rooms are less sound-proof than others!), the time of day (less will be tolerated at night and in the morning), the season of the year (in summer, windows may be open and people will be revising for exams), and whether the incident is a one-off or part of a series. All that said, music practice and rehearsals may take place only between 10 am and 11 pm.

Responsibility

The fundamental goal of the College is to foster an environment in which its members may live and work productively together, making use of the rich resources of the College, in individual and collective pursuit of academic excellence, extracurricular accomplishment, and personal challenge. "By accepting membership in the College, an individual joins a community ideally characterized by free expression, free inquiry, intellectual honesty, respect for the dignity of others, and openness to constructive change."

For this goal to be achieved, the community must be a tolerant and supportive one, characterized by civility and consideration for others. Therefore the standards and expectations of this community are high, as much so in the quality of interpersonal relationships as they are in academic performance.

The rules and regulations affecting undergraduates have been established by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Students are expected to be familiar with those regulations covered in this handbook that apply to them. The rules of President College provide a framework within which all students are free to pursue their work, under the safest and most equitable conditions the College can create. These rules, then, serve as the guidelines forming the protection of each individual's well being. Whenever violations of the rules occur, the College will treat them as matters of serious concern because they disrupt the individual lives of students, and the shared life of this community.

It is the expectation of the College that all students, whether or not they are on campus or are currently enrolled as degree candidates, will behave in a mature and responsible manner. This expectation for mature and responsible conduct also encompasses accountability for one's own well-being, including responsible decision making regarding physical and mental health. Further the College expects every student to be familiar with the regulations governing membership in the Harvard community, set forth in the pages that follow. Because students are expected to show good judgment and use common sense at all times, not all kinds of misconduct or behavioral standards are codified here. The College takes all these diverse principles very seriously; together they create a foundation for the responsible, respectful society that Harvard seeks to foster among its students, faculty, and staff.

Careful note should be taken that the College is not, and cannot be considered as, a protector or sanctuary from the existing laws of the city, state, or federal government.