GW adopted its privacy policies and procedures from the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, commonly referred to as the Buckley Amendment.

No personally identifiable information from the records of a student shall be disclosed without the prior written consent of the student, according to a provision of the Amendment.

Simply put, a student’s record is protected from the public.

The amendment, however, does include several exceptions. One exception allows personnel within the University who have a legitimate educational interest to view records. Another provision exempts certain government officials and agencies from the requirements.

The implications on Cosby’s allegations are that administrators currently will not discuss his situation. However, Robert Chernak, vice president for Student and Academic Support Services, said the University might have to make more information available to the public than it normally does in judicial proceedings.

Because it’s such a high visibility case, it’s probably going to get to the point where we’re going to have to clarify the status.(and) define what we can say without violating the law, Chernak said.
-Sarah Lechner and Russ Rizzo