Part II of this Comment provides a framework for courts deciding dormitory search cases. Federal and state courts reviewing dormitory search cases should place the search into one of three categories and then apply the appropriate Fourth Amendment standard. The three categories and appropriate standards are: (1) a traditional law enforcement search if performed primarily by state or local police would require both a warrant and probable cause; (2) an inspection for health or safety by university officials, even one that results in discovery of incriminating evidence in plain view, would not require a warrant or probable cause; and (3) a search by university officials, with or without the aid of campus police, for evidence of drugs or contraband would require probable cause but not a search warrant. The interests involved in the dormitory setting are important both from the student's and the university's perspective. This framework recognizes that the Supreme Court's precedent in other contexts, such as administrative and high school settings, cannot simply be superimposed upon the dormitory context. However, using the balancing inquiry and the principles of those precedents in a new setting results in the warrantless probable cause requirement. The requirement establishes a "new truce," one where university officials and campus police are restrained in their searches by having to gather sufficient information of a violation and to judge the credibility of that information. It restrains them in such a way that protects students' important privacy interests, while at the same time permitting the university to provide an environment conducive to living and learning in the university setting.