By: MEGAN STUDDARD, JESSE SUTTON

Editor- in- Chief, News Editor

At the beginning of this semester, The Navigator received an email from a former student who was arrested on drug-related charges last year. The student expressed concern about an article written about the arrest featured on The Piedmont Roar, Piedmont’s online student media hub.

The Navigator serves students by providing information about arrests, and these articles are also posted to The Roar and remain in an online archive. As a result, these articles could appear in online searches by future employers, graduate schools or other concerned parties.

The Navigator staff recently developed a policy to address questions about arrest articles in The Roar’s online archive.

If a student is arrested on campus, The Navigator will run a story and accompanying mugshot. This article will also be posted to The Roar. There are specific guidelines for an arrest article to be removed from The Roar.

It is not the responsibility of The Navigator or The Roar staff to identify articles to be removed from the site. If a student wishes for an arrest article to be removed, he or she must first contact the Navigator’s editor-in-chief and the Navigator adviser. The student must then provide legal proof that charges have been dropped or that the record has been expunged. Only then will the article be removed from the Navigator’s online archive.

This policy does not apply to violent or felony crime arrests. Articles about violent crimes will remain in the Navigator’s online archive in perpetuity.

In light of the recent changes to Piedmont’s alcohol protocol, we recognize that arrests may happen. We intend to report on any arrests that affect students at Piedmont College. However, it is not the desire of The Navigator to damage a student’s future career or reputation.

As time progresses, this policy is subject to change as determined by The Navigator staff and adviser.