According to the Student Press Law Center,

“Kent State University has reversed an order that would have required all student athletes at the school to delete their Facebook.com profiles by Aug. 1.”

It looks like the ACLU raised 1st Amendment concerns and the university administration backed down.

Universities regard athletic scholarships not only as investments in students but also in the school’s marketing budget. They want to have their cake and eat it too–all the positive branding and press that college athletics brings without the lifestyles of athletes at the school being known. Administrators should realize that their problem lies not in technology–media sharing in the context of online social networks is here to stay–but rather in the judgment and values of the student athletes they choose to bring in.