Kent State Banning Athletes from Using Facebook

denebian devil links to a Columbus Dispatch story about athletes at Kent State being forbidden to use Facebook — "not by the Web site, but by university administrators." From the article: "Athletics Director Laing Kennedy recently told student-athletes they have until Aug. 1 to remove their Facebook profiles, citing a need to protect both their identities and the university's image. "We're really concerned about the safety of our student-athletes and some of the personal information some of them have on there," he said. ... If student-athletes don't remove their profiles by the deadline, they risk losing their scholarships, he said. Coaches and athletics counselors will monitor the site for violators." denebian devil continues "Arstechnica also has an interesting take on the subject. Makes you wonder why they even bother providing internet connections on college campuses."

Comments

Re:wow

[garcia]

I don't know how it works at Kent but when I went to BGSU (as a scholarship athlete) we had to sign tons of paperwork including a "Code of Conduct"-like document that would have waived my right to pretty much anything legally binding.

If you weren't 18 you couldn't sign it without your parents co-signing it. I was 18 and thus a legal adult. I assume that Kent would be doing something very similar (hell they probably use the same paperwork being that they're in the same conference).

Kent doesn't exactly have an "image". They are just another college in the Midwest that no one cares about.

Re:wow

[murphyslawyer]

Yeah, but can you retroactively add to the contract? That is, when they signed on (for their scholarships), was that restriction there, or anything remotely resembling it

At least back when I was in school (5 years or so ago now), my scholorships were renewed on a semester-by-semester basis, and I'd have to fill out a sort of mini application each semester to continue getting my funds. My guess is they just new added legalese to the form, and while they can't retroactively make students comply right now, they can certainly prevent them from getting future money.

Re:This belongs in a legal textbook

[kalel666]

Actually, I believe that any university (state or private) can refuse to allow the miltary to recruit on campus. The catch is that they have to accept the forfeiture of federal funds for that decision.

Re:wow

[NMerriam]

Just to clarify, because you're mixing up the authority of the coach, university, and scholarship giver:

If the coach has $10,000 of his own money he wants to give as a scholarship to any girl who will take off her clothes, that is of course perfectly legal. (though he'd likely get fired because of bad publicity)

If the University wants to start a Stripping team and awards scholarships for it, that would be legal (though probably a bad idea due to the inevitable lawsuits and bad publicity no matter how well-run the program was).

If a university gives a scholarship to a player for playing a sport, and the coach declares on his own that he'll stop her eligibility unless she takes off her clothes, that's sexual harrassment. You see the difference? You keep suggesting that somehow the coach gets to dictate the terms of a scholarship or eligibility, and that's just not the case, coaches are coaches, the scholarship committees do the contracts and finances (though often the coach is on the committee, it's unlikely they'll get away with adding a stripping provision to the contracts).