Terms and Conditions

Welcome to Wheaton College’s Wheaton in Network (hereinafter referred to as "WiN"). Your use of WiN is subject to your review and acceptance of the terms and conditions below. This agreement includes a release of legal rights, so please read it carefully before you accept it. If you do not understand or agree with any of the terms or conditions herein, please contact the site administrator at win@wheaton.edu. You may not proceed until you acknowledge your acceptance of this agreement.

1. Your Sign-up Obligations

In return for your use of WiN, you certify that you are at least 18 years of age, and agree that you will provide information about yourself that is true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current, or incomplete, or if WiN administrators suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current, or incomplete, WiN administrators have the right to suspend or terminate your account, and refuse any and all current or future use of WiN.

2. Privacy Policy

In order to protect your privacy, and the privacy of others, individual user profiles are not searchable, and are hidden from view by all but WiN administrators and staff, unless the user has chosen to place their profile in the search pool.

All member information on the WiN website is securely stored, and is not sold or transferred to any third parties.

3. Passwords and Security

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any password(s) you use to access WiN, and you assume full responsibility for all activities that occur under your password(s). You agree to notify WiN immediately upon: your knowledge or suspicion of any unauthorized use of your password(s), or any unauthorized access of your account.

The administrators of WiN are committed to protecting and preserving all private personal information that we collect from you on the WiN website. WiN administrator have taken reasonable steps to prevent unauthorized access to the WiN website, and to ensure that your private personal information is secure, and kept private.

4. Member Conduct

WiN contains messaging functions, personal profile web pages, and other communication services. Participation on WiN is entirely voluntary and WiN makes no representations or warranties as to the conduct of its members.

You agree that you are solely responsible for your interactions with other members on WiN.

You agree to take reasonable precautions in all interactions with other members on WiN, particularly if you decide to meet in person offline. You should not provide your financial information to other members, and if you choose to do so, you will not hold the administrators of WiN, Wheaton College, or any other user of WiN, responsible for any loss or negative consequence that you experience as a result of sharing this information.

You agree to use these services only to post, send and receive messages and material, appropriate for WiN, and within the scope of WiN’s purpose.

You agree that when using these services, you will not:

  • Post material or encourage behavior that is contrary to the Mission of Wheaton College, the Wheaton College Statement of Faith and Educational Purpose, and the Wheaton College Community Covenant.
  • Use WiN services in connection with surveys, contests, pyramid schemes, chain letters, junk email, spamming or any duplicative or unsolicited messages (commercial or otherwise).
  • Send messages that are repetitive, distracting to others, or otherwise inappropriate.
  • Use WiN services for solicitation or fundraising purposes.
  • Defame, harass, stalk, abuse, threaten, or otherwise violate the legal rights of others, including, but not limited to rights of privacy, and rights of publicity.
  • Publish, post, upload, or distribute any information, name, image, video, or other material that is inappropriate, defamatory, indecent, profance, obscene, unlawful, or otherwise offensive to others.
  • Upload to WiN, download from WiN, or otherwise make available to others, or use in any manner that infringes on privacy and publicity rights, and intellectual property laws (e.g. copyright laws, trademark laws, patents, trade secrets, and other proprietary intellectual property laws), images, software and information, unless you own or control these rights, or have received written consent from the owner to do so.
  • Upload files that contain viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, corrupted files, or any other similar harmful software or programs that may cause damage to computers, networks, property, or other damages not herein specified.
  • Advertise or offer to sell or buy any goods or services for any business purpose.
  • Download any file, posted by another user of a service, that you know, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally reproduced, displayed, performed, and/or distributed in such manner.
  • Falsify or delete any copyright management information, such as: copyright symbols, trademark symbols, author/creator attributions, legal or other proper notices, labels of origin, source attributions, or any other copyrighted management information contained in, or associated with, any protected image, file or software that is uploaded.
  • Restrict, intimidate, or otherwise inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the services offered on WiN.
  • Download, harvest, collect, or copy by any means, or distribute or otherwise provide to any other person or entity, whether or not for a fee, information about other users of WiN, including but not limited to, names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, or other user or usage information, or any portion thereof.
  • Violate any applicable law, regulation, code of conduct, or other guideline, that may be applicable to WiN, or any services attached to, or offered therein.
  • Create any false identity for the purpose of misleading others, or for any other reason.
  • Interfere with or disrupt the WiN service, servers or networks connected to the WiN service, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the WiN service.

6. International Use

Recognizing the global nature of the internet, you agree to comply with all local rules regarding online conduct and acceptable content. Specifically, you agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside.

7. Digital Content Submitted to and Received from WiN

You agree that all information received or collected by WiN, including but not limited to, uploaded images, files and software, member profile information, and any transactional data, including communications made using WiN, are thereafter the property of WiN. By uploading, emailing, posting, publishing, or otherwise transmitting any content using WiN, you automatically grant WiN a perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, transmit and distribute such content in any form, medium, or technology for the purpose of displaying, distributing and promoting WiN’s services, and for other uses deemed appropriate by WiN administrators and/or Wheaton College. Wheaton College administration reserves the right to monitor any exchanges through the WiN messaging system. Without limiting the foregoing, WiN shall have the right to remove any content that violates its Terms of Service or is otherwise determined by WiN administrators, or by Wheaton College, to be objectionable.

You agree to accept cookies from WiN, and additionally agree and authorize WiN to collect and store information that relates to your usage of WiN, including but not limited to past searches, login, location, and browser data, and other data necessary to provide WiN services.

8. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless WiN, its directors, administrators, officers, employees and agents, and Wheaton College, its directors, officers, trustees, representatives, agents, employees and students, from and against any and all present and future claims, liabilities, damages, losses, demands, actions, judgments, or expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third party, due to or arising out of your negligence, your content, your use of the service, your connection to the service, your violation of the Terms of Service, or your violation of any rights of another, and WiN’s negligence, Wheaton College’s negligence. Such indemnification shall include, but not be limited to, wrongful death, bodily injury, personal injury, emotional distress, pain & suffering, loss of consortium, lost wages, theft, and property damage.

9. No Resale of service

You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any portion of WiN, use of WiN, or access to WiN.

10. Modifications to Service

WiN reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the service (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that WiN shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the service.

11. Termination of Use

You agree that Wheaton College may, at its sole discretion, terminate your access to WiN, and any account(s) you may have in connection with WiN, at any time and for any reason. These reasons may include, but are not limited to postings, conduct or values that are perceived by WiN administrators as being incompatible with, or in conflict with, the Wheaton College Mission, the Wheaton College Statement of Faith and Educational Purpose, and the Wheaton College Community Covenant. You also agree that Wheaton College shall not be liable to you, or any third-party, for any termination of your access to this service.

12. Third-Party Websites, Content, Products and Services

WiN may provide links to websites and access to content, products and services from third parties, including users, advertisers, affiliates and sponsors of WiN. You agree that WiN is not responsible for the availability of, and content provided on, third-party websites. You should refer to the policies posted by other websites regarding privacy and other topics before you use them.

If you choose to purchase any products or services from a third party, your relationship is directly with the third party. You agree that WiN is not responsible for: (a) the quality of third party products or services; and (b) fulfilling any of the terms of your agreement with the seller, including delivery of products or services and warranty obligations related to purchased products or services. You agree that WiN is not responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any loss or damage of any sort you may incur from dealing with any third party.

13. Disclaimer In no event shall The Trustees of Wheaton College (“Wheaton College”), their agents or assigns be liable for any damages whatsoever, whether direct, indirect, general, special, compensatory, consequential, and/or incidental, arising out of or relating to the conduct of you or anyone else in connection with the use of the service, including, without limitation, wrongful death, bodily injury, personal injury, emotional distress, pain & suffering, loss of consortium, lost wages, theft, and property damage, and/or any other damages resulting from communications or meetings with other registered users of this service, or persons you meet through this service.

Except where specifically stated, all content, materials, information, software, products and services on WiN, are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. WiN disclaims all warranties and guarantees of any kind, whether stated or implied, including, but not limited to, any assurance of availability, marketability, merchantability, fitness for a particular use, and non-infringement.

Wheaton College makes no warranty that:

  • WiN will meet your requirements or needs;
  • WiN will be available or an uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free basis;
  • The information and results obtained on WiN will be accurate or reliable;
  • The services offered through WiN will be available, properly represented, and/or dependable;
  • The quality of any products, services, information, or other material obtained by you through WiN will meet your expectations.

Any content, materials, information or software downloaded or otherwise obtained through the use of WiN is done at your own discretion and risk. Wheaton College reserves the right to make changes or updates to WiN at any time without notice.

If WiN’s security measures are breached by any means, including but not limited to, malicious hacking, viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, corrupted files, or any other similar harmful software, hardware or software malfunctions, human error, Wheaton College assumes no responsibility for any resulting loss including but not limited to loss of data or damage to your computer, identity theft, financial theft, fraudulent use of your personal information, and reputational damage.

14. Limitation of Liability

In no event shall the Site be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or damages for loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill or use, incurred by you or any third party, whether in an action in contract or tort, arising from your access to, use of, or inability to use the site.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability. Accordingly, some of the above limitations may not apply to you.

15. Dispute Resolution, Controlling Law, and Venue

In the event a dispute shall arise between the parties to this agreement (WiN Terms & Conditions), or any claimed breach thereof, it is hereby agreed that the dispute shall be referred to the American Arbitration Association. It is further agreed that:

  • The arbitration will take place in Wheaton, Illinois at a location determined by Wheaton College;
  • There will be a single arbitrator who is mutually acceptable to each party, and consent may not be unreasonably withheld; and
  • The arbitrator will be a retired federal judge or a practicing lawyer with 20 years of intellectual property litigation experience;
  • The arbitrator’s decision shall be final and binding and judgment may be entered thereon.
  • The controlling law shall be the law of the State of Illinois.
  • The venue of any proceeding shall be Dupage County, Illinois.

16. Notices

All notices between the parties to this agreement (WiN Terms & Conditions), shall be made via either email or regular mail. WiN may also provide notices to you concerning changes to the Terms and Conditions, or for other matters, by displaying notices or links to notices, during your use of WiN.

17. Violations

Please report any violations of these Terms and Conditions to win@wheaton.edu.