The Balkanization of University Support Systems: Ferpa's Chilling Effect on Campuses and How Honors Administrators Can Break the Ice (Forum on "Helping Honors Students in Trouble") (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 ("FERPA") was signed into law by President Ford on August 21, 1974. It is difficult to state with authority now, some thirty-five years later, exactly why Congress created the law; it was offered as an amendment on the Senate floor, was not the subject of Committee consideration, and therefore is without the traditional legislative history that would help us divine Congressional intent. Surely, though, Congress never intended that FERPA would foster tragedy by creating confusion and preventing critical communication among school officials. Sadly, however, it appears that confusion over the contours of FERPA, similar state privacy laws, and also the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") has in the past hindered university officials, including those in honors colleges and programs, from helping students who are in trouble. In the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, then-President Bush asked several of his cabinet members to "travel to communities across our nation and to meet with educators, mental health experts, law enforcement and state and local officials to discuss the broader issues raised by this tragedy" (Leavitt, Spellings, and Gonzales, 1). one of their key findings was that "confusion and differing interpretations about state and federal privacy laws and regulations impede[d] appropriate information sharing" and that "there was significant misunderstanding about the scope and application of [FERPA and HIPAA] and their interrelation with state laws" (7). The report of the Review Panel presented to Governor Kaine of Virginia included similar discussions of the confusion caused by these privacy laws and concluded that they "need amendment and clarification" (Massengill, et al., 68).