The T.L.O. case involved the warrantless search of a student's purse by a high school vice principal. The Court held that school officials may conduct warrantless searches of their pupils on the basis of 'reasonable suspicion.' Although it can be plausibly maintained that the T.L.O. decision applies only to public education and not to higher education, this view is shortsighted. The T.L.O. could produce a total reassessment of search and seizure doctrine throughout the entire educational field. This reassessment could produce a change in the apparent truce that exists between students and institutions in the area of campus searches. If that truce is based only on a legally mandated set of rights and responsibilities based on case law, it could end. If, however, the truce reflects a principled decision and a rational compromise, the T.L.O. decision and future decisions based on it will not threaten the truce. However, T.L.O. should cause colleges and universities to reexamine and possibly rediscover their own institutional attitudes toward their students, particularly their attitudes regarding the value of privacy. 63 footnotes.