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Freedom of Speech For Athletes

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Freedom of Speech For Athletes
Fontenot 1

Symone Fontenot
2nd Hour DE ULL
Proficiency Essay­ Freedom of Speech
8 May 2014
Freedom of Speech
For a college athlete, freedom of speech can seem limited. When signing over to become a college athlete responsibility is set on the shoulders of the students by the coaches and the administration of the school. They are required to be hard working, well rounded, diligent students that may make a difference in the future of the school’s athletic division. However, these athletes have to make the decision to be role models and make the correct choices in their time as a college athlete. With the help of coaches and the rules set forth before the decision is made, the athletes know what is expected of them when they enter the college athletic division.
Coach Glover, a track and field coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, came across a picture on f acebook of John McCarther, a college track and field sprinter, drinking at a fraternity party. When confronting him, Coach Glover had to explain the problem in posting pictures on social media. He explained that although it is his personal life, he is not only representing himself but the team and the university’s image as well as reputation. When signing a scholarship to a university athletic team, the standards are set from the beginning. Showing responsibility in public and on social media networks is one of the most important things expected of an athlete. Coaches are not saying that if a student is an athlete they cannot have a personal life where partying is involved, but they are asking that the athlete not make it blatantly obvious to the

Fontenot 2

public. Keeping pictures of themselves off of Facebook or any other social network is just a way to keep the reputation of the school a respectable one. The rule is not there to punish the athlete. It is just like getting a job. If someone were trying to get a job and they go in for an interview, the interviewer may

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