Facebook.com has wormed its way into college life, linking students to others in the their classes, putting faces to names, and allowing students to share pictures and advertise events.
But for student-athletes, that privilege could soon come to an end.
Colleges and universities across the country have been revising policies that restrict, and occasionally prohibit, student-athletes from using sites like Facebook or myspace.com. While the details vary from school to school, and often from team to team, many require athletes to sign contracts about their activity on these sites or forbid them from posting pictures.
The strictest measures, and those making headlines, are from Div. I institutions, where athletics play a much larger and more prominent role within the university. Loyola University of Chicago has taken the most extreme stance, barring its varsity athletes from having profiles on Facebook last March.
The University of Michigan is the latest in a string of high-profile institutions to restrict the online activity of its student-athletes. The University made headlines earlier this month when it announced that all athletes would be required to sign a contract stating that their involvement in sites like Facebook.com would, "reflect the high standards of honor and dignity that characterize participation in competitive sports at the University of Michigan."
Most schools have continued to allow student-athletes to participate in these sites but have set strict parameters over the content in their profiles, threatening loss of scholarship and other disciplinary action. Two swimmers from Louisiana State University were kicked of the team last spring because they were members of a group on Facebook that posted negative comments about their coach.
Most of the action has been at the Div. I level, and while Tufts has no department-wide policy, the underlying issues are the same. The NESCAC's athletic directors discussed the use of online social-networking sites at their annual meeting this fall.
"We know it's there, and we want to be careful," said Tufts Assistant Director of Athletics Branwen Smith-King. "There is always a double-standard with athletes."
This double-standard, in which student-athletes are held to a higher standard than the general student body, is rooted in the very public role of athletics. By putting on a Tufts uniform, student-athletes serve as a public face of the University, and their actions, especially negative ones, may carry more weight.
"Our coach reminds us that in and out of season we are all still members of the women's basketball team," senior Valerie Krah said. "Everything we do is a reflection of our team and our program."
Tufts coaches have mixed feelings about the Web site and the policies surfacing among Div. I programs. While some coaches were familiar with sites such as Facebook, others were completely ignorant, and this variation is reflected in different policies across Tufts' varsity teams.
"I have never been on Facebook, and I have no plan to go on Facebook unless it becomes an issue," women's tennis coach Kate Bayard said. "We have no specific team policy, but I remind my players that when they are out and about they are always representing Tufts, women's tennis, and the Athletic Department, and that they should act in a way they would not be ashamed of."
Field hockey coach Tina McDavitt instituted a policy for the first time this year that bans pictures or comments that could be perceived negatively. While that label is broadly applied, it applies most clearly to pictures of underage drinking or team hazing activities, like those that surfaced of the Northwestern women's soccer team last May that sparked an internal investigation and resulted in the team's suspension.
"College kids do college things," McDavitt said. "But now you are taking it to a whole new level because it's documented. I would never ban my girls from Facebook because I respect them."
At Tufts, that respect has been mutual, as athletes have responded positively to the policies.
"I don't want anything to happen to my team, like having our season suspended or players suspended," said senior Annie Ross, a tri-captain of the women's soccer team. "So I tell the team to not risk putting pictures on Facebook. It's just not worth it."
Ross is also a tri-captain of the softball team, which has a rule similar to the one McDavitt employs with the field hockey team.
Senior lacrosse player Alex Bezdek echoed Ross's sentiments about the removal of pictures from Facebook.
"I'd even take down any photos of innocent parties with teammates, because you never know how someone may misconstrue something to associate it with hazing," Bezdek said.
There have not been any problems at Tufts or at other NESCAC schools, but the league's administration is aware of the potential and is prepared to take action.
"We haven't been notified about any problems with our teams," Smith-King said. "If anything were to happen here or at any NESCAC school, there would be serious repercussions at the Presidents' level."
