Athlete suspensions and the preemptive disbanding of a large outdoor party stained last weekend after would-be hosts pitched the event on Facebook to be a drunken orgy.
The office of residence life approved what was originally slated to be an afternoon of outdoor dancing in the lawn between Student Townhouse Complex blocks 8, 9 and 10. ResLife staff would have supervised the party and provided trash receptacles.
However, a “degrading” Facebook event page and description appeared within 24 hours of the approval according to Dean of Students Karen Donohue ‘03. Students administrating the event proposed it to ResLife with the name “Fairfield Ultra” – a spinoff of the annual international event (Ultra Music Festival) known for crowds of young people and hours of electronic disc jockeying.
The Facebook event page, titled “FUltra Townhouse F*ckfest,” had a detailed description stating, “… DJ Lou [will] be setting up his strip poles and boombox on the grass for us to get inebriated and bang everything that has two legs and a heartbeat,” among other things.
For Donoghue, “whether it was a joke or not, it was extremely disappointing … This turned from an organized event to an undercover orgy, you could argue.”
Three students were administrators of the Facebook event page and were asked by the dean of students’ office to delete it and cancel the event. The students complied. The dean’s office would not discuss any other sanctions that may have been imposed on the students for the offensive event description.
Donoghue said that all action taken in her office is done independently from the athletic department, though the two departments keep in communication. On athletics, “They have their own standards … I uphold to the [Student Handbook] and I treat all the same.”
The dean’s office was informed of the page by the department of public safety. DPS was notified of the page description by ResLife, who had it mentioned to them by other students.
Because the event was open to public access, ResLife staff was able to read it via their personal accounts.
One of the administrators is a men’s tennis player, the other on the men’s soccer team. Student athletes have their own additional code of conduct. By Friday afternoon, a meeting was called in the Walsh Athletic Center for all Division I coaches. The NCAA holds all institutions accountable for social media related to their athletics.
“I called the meeting more with disappointment,” said Gene Doris, director of athletics. “The meeting to remind coaches,” he said.
Within two weeks prior to the event post, Fairfield athletics in conjunction with career planning held an event where athletes could meet with an Alumnus to discuss the dangers of social media. Attendance was optional; not everyone went.
After the meeting on Friday, it was determined that the athletes would be suspended for an amount of time at their coaches’ discretion. As of now, the suspensions are for less than the rest of the semester. Doris believes the sanctions from his department are an appropriate reaction.
“I know the standard that we hold [our athletes] to,” Doris said. “If you’re at a party wearing Fairfield University garb, doing something inappropriate, you have to take responsibility.
“I know it might not sound fair, but we hold them to that.”
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