The VCU athletic department is reminding its
athletes of the risks and responsibilities of using
social networking sites, said senior associate athletic
director Jeff Cupps.
Recently, athletic departments across the country
have revisited their policies on the issue of student
athletes’ use of these sites.
The most popular networking sites used by college
students are MySpace.com and Facebook.com.
Facebook.com claims that more than one-fourth of
its members are college students, and more than 80
percent of college students are members, according
to Facebook.com representative Chris Hughes in an
interview with TechCrunch.com.
Although VCU does not have an official policy
regarding its student athletes’ use of online communities,
Cupps said the issue is being addressed.
“We don’t have an official policy, but both athletic
department staff and team coaches speak directly
with the students about being responsible online,”
Cupps said.
In May 2006, Northwestern University suspended
its women’s soccer team after pictures posted on
BadJocks.com showed members of the team engaged
in the hazing of freshmen, according to staff and
wire reports at USA Today. The coach resigned as
a result of the incident.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association does
not regulate posting on social networking sites unless
those postings involve commercial activity. Cupps
said gambling is also an issue.
“It becomes a concern when sites conduct pools
for students, particularly around March Madness,”
Cupps said, referring to online gambling during
college basketball playoffs.
Student athletes typically are in the public spotlight
more than the general student body, he said. Cupps
said students should be aware of postings because
future employees are looking, and security is also
a factor.
Student athlete adviser Scott Quarforth, who
teaches a VCU introduction course to freshman
athletes, tells his students to be aware of what they
are posting.
“I remind them to stay vigilant because the personal
information they provide is available to everyone,”
Quarforth said.
Negative incidents like the one at Northwestern
have the potential to harm an institution’s reputation
with the public as well as alumni. Concerns
about social networking sites have lead the athletic
departments at Florida State University and Loyola
University Chicago to prohibit its student athletes
from holding accounts with these sites.
Larger schools with prominent sports programs
now are acquiring the services of sports-media
training institutions to advise students on dealing
with media. Cupps said at the beginning of the fall
semester this year, the VCU athletic department
brought in a sports-media trainer to discuss media
issues with some of its student athletes.
VCU is not going to the extent of prohibiting the
use of online communities, but Internet responsibility
is an issue that is addressed to all of its student
athletes.
Junior Stephanie Power, a midfielder on the
women’s soccer team at VCU, said that after receiving
word from the athletic department, the coaches
addressed the players in post-practice meetings on
the issue of personal sites.
“We were warned to remove pictures of irresponsible
behavior, like drinking, that would misrepresent
VCU and the team,” Power said.