Independence: One of College's Great Illusions

Tyler Powell

Part of the grandeur of college life is the thought of finally being independent for one's parents. A student can drink, gamble, eat unhealthily, throw parties, be quiet or loud when desired, and so on now that his or her parents are no longer nearby to set rules. The only restrictions on students are those they put on themselves.

However enticing this may seem, it is not the case in most colleges. In the past, as is made clear by Gavin Henning, colleges ruled over their students using the In Loco Parentis, which is latin for "in place of the parents." In Loco Parentis was established in 1913 by a Supreme Court decision for the case Gott v. Berea, giving colleges the responsibility of picking up where the parents left off. Even though it was later overturned in Dixon v. Alabama Board of Education (1961), students still do not have complete independence.

Students are provided dorms to sleep in, dining halls to eat at, and various other amenities. In many cases, these expenses are covered by the parents, along with some tuition loans. At some colleges parents can keep an eye on the students grades just by creating an account with the college online. Colleges have the power to put students on academic probation if their grades drop in order to shape them into hard workers. Students even maintain some control over each other through personal advise or elections of hall leaders. Where students may gain some independence from their parents, others keep them in check with academic or personal standards.