Students, faculty and staff are required to sign the "Life Together Covenant" (LTC) upon joining the University. Community members pledge to adhere to certain standards of conduct and refrain from certain behaviors, including social dancing (excepting marriages taking place off of school property and choreographed or folk dance), premarital sex, homosexuality, smoking, and the consumption of alcohol, with the intention of strengthening the community as a whole. Students cannot register for classes or housing unless they have signed the LTC pledge each year. The LTC is viewed as not only a covenant, but as a binding contract as well. Penalties for not adhering to the LTC range from "citizenship probation" to expulsion from the university. In 2013 the dancing rule was modified to allow officially sanctioned school dances.