SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

Participation in Athletics for Emmanuel College is a privilege. Student-athletes at Emmanuel are held to higher standards. As such, you have the responsibility to represent your team, Emmanuel, and yourselves in a positive light at all times. This means doing things that are an inconvenience to you, but benefit the entire team.

Social media sites such as: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine and endless other sites have increased in popularity and are used by many student-athletes on a regular basis.

Student-athletes should be aware that third parties, such as the media, faculty, future employers and NCAA officials could access your profiles and view all personal information, including pictures, videos and comments. Inappropriate information found by these parties affect the image of the student-athlete, the athletic department, and Emmanuel College.

Before participating in any social media, understand that anything posted online is available to ANYONE IN THE WORLD. Any text, photo, or video placed online becomes property of the site(s) and is completely out of your control the moment it is placed online – even if you limit access to your site.

Examples of inappropriate behaviors on social media may include depictions or presentations of, but are not limited to the following items:

• Pictures, videos or comments showing the personal use of alcohol and drugs, including alcohol and drug paraphernalia.

• Pictures, videos and comments that are of a sexual nature, including links to websites of sexually explicit nature and other inappropriate material.

• Pictures, videos or comments that condone drug related activity, including, but not limited to images portraying the personal use of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

• Content that is unsportsmanlike, derogatory, demeaning or threatening toward and individual or entity. (Ex: derogatory comments directed at another school, taunting comments aimed at a student-athlete, coach or any other team)

• No posts should depict or encourage unacceptable, violent or illegal activities such as hazing, sexual harassment/assault, gambling, discrimination, fighting, vandalism, academic dishonesty, underage drinking or illegal drug use.

• Content that would be in violation of Emmanuel College policies and/or NCAA rules. (Ex: gambling, commenting publicly about a prospective student-athlete).

• Information that is sensitive or personal in nature or is proprietary to Emmanuel College (Ex: student-athlete injuries and eligibility status or travel plans).

If you ever question the appropriateness of your social media content, consider whether it upholds and positively reflects your own values and ethics as well as the Emmanuel athletic department. Remember, always portray a positive image and do not do anything to embarrass yourself, your team, your family or Emmanuel College.

If a student-athlete's profile contents and/or online behavior are suspected to be inappropriate in accordance with this policy, he/she will be subject to athletic department/team disciplinary action, will be referred to the student conduct process, and then referred to the appropriate law enforcement agency. Each incident will be reviewed on a case by case basis.