LC athletic administrators turn to facebook to police student athletes

Unlike some colleges, the Lewis & Clark Athletic Department is not threatening their athletes with a Facebook ban. Over the years LC athletic department officials, such as Associate Director of Physical Education and Athletics, Jenny Simon, have created Facebook accounts. However, to date, no punitive actions have been taken against any student athletes concerning their profiles on Facebook.

Instead, the LC athletic department prefers to monitor and deal with student athlete profiles in a case-by-case manner. Up until now, all potentially self-incriminating athlete postings have been dealt with through “conversations” between the student-athlete and the athletics department that discuss how, as a department, LC athletics should be represented. According to Simon, “We have a responsibility as a
 department to be aware of what is happening online and provide athletes with knowledge of what is acceptable and what is not. Our student-athletes represent our department not only on the field, but
 also in all of their other pursuits”.

In the last year, college athletic departments have imposed and lobbied for bans of their athletes’ profiles on Facebook. Kent State University and The University of Minnesota Duluth are just a few of the institutions that have considered their athletes’ online profiles to be liabilities to the representation of their institutions. Athletic administrators at these colleges and universities believe the risk of NCAA violation will increase with their teams’ online presence and consider Facebook an unnecessary liability.

Any exposed violations force academic institutions or NCAA to respond punitively towards athletes and teams. Incidents such as
 team hazing or online betting and gambling documented on Facebook are examples, in addition to the numerous photos of underage drinking, that are against NCAA rules. Throughout Facebook’s short history, beginning in 2004, there have been a multitude of athletes and teams that have been suspended or prohibited by NCAA from competition due to information disclosed on Facebook. At Louisiana State, for example, two swimmers were barred from competition due to bad-mouthing their coach on the network.

In the face of these consequences LC athletics still views policing Facebook differently. From a coaching standpoint, both men and women’s head basketball coaches agree that their teams are equipped with the judgment needed to assess the appropriateness of their profiles before a season begins. Men’s Head Basketball Coach Bob Gaillard said, “The athletes know that they are always accountable for their actions 
and face team disciplinary actions for confirmed violations.” Similarly, Head Women’s Basketball Coach Juli Fulks said, “At the beginning of each year we have a discussion on appropriate
team behavior which includes Facebook. We expect players to keep in
mind that their sites are open to anyone’s viewing and if inappropriate behavior (as established by our team and coaching staff) is documented
online, we will handle that matter within our team.” Ultimately, says Fulks, the athletics department expects LC’s athletes to simply use their best judgment when posting and 
communicating on the infamous social networking site.

Currently, there is no mention of Facebook or any other online community in the LC Student Athlete Handbook. However, in the future, the department would like to adopt a portion like that of Haverford College’s Student Athlete Handbook. In Haverford’s handbook, a large section is titled, “Helpful Hints to Socialize Safely on the Internet”. One repeatedly stressed point of this section does not concern athlete representation of the College. Instead, it warns that information posted on Facebook is potentially accessible to employers with faculty or alumni accounts. It advises athletes to be aware that future employers, graduate schools, and other organizations often consider information posted on the web when making decisions about employment and admission. Although this information is meant to inform athletes; all students may take the advice of this handbook.

With nearly 10 million profiles, including two-thirds of the college student population; Facebook accounts are public information.

In response to confidentiality issues, basketball player Thomas Tillery (’08) said, “As much as I want to say it’s is an invasion of our 
privacy, I’ve learned that it is better to keep your personal business off the
 Internet because anyone who has access to a computer can pretty much see 
it.” For the time being, LC freedom of speech, in the form of Facebook profiles, is safe. However, a team hazing or a drunken team fiesta featured on Facebook may change the current relationship between the LC athletic department and athlete profiles.