Facebook has come under fire recently as controversial pictures and commentary have been uncovered by administrators on athletes' profiles.
Earlier this month, coaches at Ball State University were contacted by athletic administrators and asked to deal with the issue. Nona Richardson, associate athletics director, said the administration is urging coaches to tell their athletes to clean up profiles or face consequences.-á
"The administration has reviewed some of the Facebook profiles and the content has been shared with the student advisory committee," Richardson said. "Presently we want them to know that this is not representative of the university and [the profiles] need to be cleaned up or measures will be taken."
The administration threatened to disallow athletes the privilege of Facebook, according to one student-athlete at Ball State who wished not to be named. Members of the source's team received two e-mails from administrators, one warning that officials were going to look at Facebook pictures and the other threatening to ban athletes from Facebook all together. -á
Randy Litchfield, women's volleyball coach, said the issue has been addressed with his team and are taking it upon themselves to alter any questionable material.-á
"My team is going to be first in terms of making changes in terms of how we conduct ourselves," Litchfield said. "Those changes are going to come from the minds of our players because I think they have to have ownership in this."-á
The Student-Athlete Handbook says, "All student groups are visible representatives of their institution. Thus, all Ball State University student-athletes must honor the responsibility that accompanies the privilege of representing their school by behaving with dignity and class on and off the field."
Facebook is a popular web site for thousands of students with a college e-mail address. The site, now accessible by 882 U.S. colleges and universities, is frequented by college students as well as athletes and now, administrators and instructors.-á
The uproar over Facebook, along with MySpace, is not limited to Ball State. A number of schools have begun taking action toward the profile databases. -á
According to a March 9 story in USA Today, Florida State University athletes were told to clean up profiles in 10 days or risk losing scholarships. At North Carolina State University, administrators used Facebook as evidence to convict nine students for violating the university's alcohol policy, while Loyola-Chicago has gone all out in banning athletes from joining.-á
Ball State freshman golfer Brian Maurer said that although he would be disappointed in not having the privilege of Facebook, he understands the university's reasoning.-á
"We've talked about it within the team and it kind of sucks but I can see where they are coming from," Maurer said. "As athletes we have to be role models for the university, and we have to make sure none of that stupid stuff is on there."-á
As no formal move has been made yet at Ball State, coaches are taking it upon themselves to urge students to remove any questionable material.-á
"I warned my team that their profiles and pictures needed to be in good taste," track and field coach Sue Parks said. "If I found out that anything inappropriate was on there, I would find it and make them take it off."
-Phil Friend also contributed to this report.
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