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Stanford Alumni Association Code of Conduct

Stanford University values integrity, diversity, respect, freedom of inquiry and expression, trust, honesty, and fairness and strives to integrate these values into its education, research, health care, and business practices. We hope that all members of the Stanford community take responsibility for sustaining the high ethical standards of the university and that all students and alumni feel they are welcome at all Stanford activities in any way in which they choose to participate. To this end, alumni volunteers and participants and their non-alumni guests are expected to abide by the following tenets of our code of conduct when engaging with any Stanford offering, activity, or communication.

For SAA Volunteers

As a Stanford Alumni Association volunteer, you are expected to adhere to Stanford’s Code of Conduct for ethical and professional standards of behavior. At the heart of this code is the principle of treating others with respect, integrity, honesty, and fairness. Serving in a volunteer leadership role is a privilege and the SAA reserves the right to revoke the opportunity if deemed necessary. The key components of the code include:

  • Integrity and Quality
    Volunteers should conduct university business transactions with the utmost honesty, accuracy, and fairness. Expediency should never compromise integrity.

  • Respect for Others

    Volunteers should treat each university community member fairly and with respect. Volunteers should embrace diversity and inclusion.

  • Confidentiality, Privacy, and Information Security

    Volunteers should obtain and use only information pertinent to the university activity for which it was intended. We are individually and collectively accountable for our behavior.

For Participants in Stanford Offerings, Activities, and/or Communications

By registering for any Stanford activity or participating in any Stanford offering, activity, or communication, you and your guests agree to uphold the Stanford Alumni Association Code of Conduct. Violations of the Stanford Alumni Association Code of Conduct include any behavior and/or language which defames, abuses, or threatens others; is racially or sexually harassing; or is bigoted, hateful, or racially offensive.

While the university code of conduct applies only to those who are working for or on behalf of the university, we would like to see all participants in Stanford offerings, activities or communications comport themselves in a manner that is in keeping with the spirit of the university’s code of conduct, upholding the values of respect, integrity, honesty, and fairness.

If participants observe inappropriate behavior at an event they should inform any Stanford staff member in attendance. If no Stanford staff member is available they should inform the Stanford Alumni Association at contact-saa@alumni.stanford.edu

For Digital Engagement on Stanford sites and online platforms

Stanford provides digital platforms on which constituents can create and join online communities based on shared interests or experiences. Online communities may include unmoderated forums containing the personal opinions and other expressions of the persons who post entries or contribute content on a wide range of topics. Participants in online communities may not represent or imply that their opinions represent those of Stanford University.

Additionally, by using any Stanford digital platform or online tool*, you agree to the above and to comport yourself in a respectful and appropriate manner in connection with any activity, communication, or digital offering. We welcome all viewpoints as long as the tone of the discussion is respectful. Communications that defame or threaten others or are bigoted, hateful, or racially offensive are not acceptable.

Prohibited conduct includes:

  • Posting content that defames, abuses, or threatens others

  • Posting harassing materials (such as racially or sexually charged material)

  • Posting statements that are bigoted, hateful, or racially offensive, or that promote bigoted, hateful, or racially offensive behavior

  • Posting content that advocates illegal activity

  • Posting content that infringes another's intellectual property, including, but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks, or trade secrets. When quoting copyrighted material, please adhere to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Fair Use Guidelines

  • Posting material that contains obscene language or images, including on personal profiles and banner images

  • Posting images of minors without parental consent

  • Posting spam

  • Posting any form of commercial solicitation that has not been explicitly approved by the Stanford Alumni Association

  • Posting material that promotes business, commercial or special interests, such as fundraising initiatives, and offering services or expertise other than those explicitly approved by the Stanford Alumni Association

  • Posting information one knows to be factually erroneous or misleading

  • Posting political ads or solicitation of support for any political candidate

  • Posting anything that violates Stanford University’s Code of Ethics

Copyrighted material, including without limitation software, graphics, text, photographs, sound, video, and musical recordings, may not be placed on digital offerings without the express permission of the owner of the copyright of the material, or other legal entitlement to use the material. Any person posting material protected by copyright for the benefit of any third-party represents and warrants consent or permission has been obtained to post such materials.

Although Stanford does not screen or monitor content posted by users to digital platforms, Stanford reserves the right to remove all or any portion of an online community’s information from the platform at any time and at Stanford’s sole discretion. Stanford reserves the right to remove content that violates the above rules of which it becomes aware.

All online community participants and organizers agree not to post or facilitate the posting of any material in violation of the Terms of Use and/or Code of Conduct. Online community participants and organizers also agree to provide reasonable assistance at the request of Stanford and its representatives to address any violations of this policy as determined by Stanford. Participants and organizers also agree not to use the online community for any activity that violates any federal, state, or local law.

You may not attempt to use or distribute tools designed for compromising security or take any action to compromise the security of any site. Examples of these tools include but are not limited to password guessing programs, cracking tools, or network probing tools. You may not "flood" or disrupt the digital offerings through any means or process.

You may not copy, scrape, download, export or otherwise capture any data obtained in the digital offerings and/or store it outside of the system, e.g., in a separate spreadsheet, email list, database, or another external repository. You agree that you will not access or attempt to access any other user’s account, or misrepresent or attempt to misrepresent your identity while using the Websites.

Statements or postings which violate the aforementioned terms will be deleted upon discovery. Stanford reserves the right to warn, suspend or ban any person from access to constituent resources and events for violation of the above or violation of any of the other Terms of Use that govern usage across all of our digital properties.

If you become aware of any unauthorized use of your Stanford User account (now called “Stanford Pass”), you agree to notify Stanford by telephone at (866) 543-0243 Toll-free, (650) 724-0627 International, email at alumniwebhelp@stanford.edu, or in writing at the address below:

Stanford Alumni Association
Attn: Stanford Pass Accounts
Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center
326 Galvez St.
Stanford, CA, 94305

*Examples include but are not limited to: alumni email powered by Gmail, the alumni directory, Stanford Groups, the SOLAR Network discussion list, digital Class Books and Community Books, the Stanford University Alumni on LinkedIn group, and club, class, and Stanford Alumni Facebook pages.