• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
College Magazine logo

College Magazine

College Life, Dating, Career & Campus Advice

  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
    • Find Your College
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
Home » Latest Posts » Student removed from team for tweet containing racial slur
Life

Student removed from team for tweet containing racial slur

Facebook Tweet
Sarah Polus   December 18, 2012

 

The University of North Alabama removed one of their football players from the team after he tweeted a racial slur about President Obama on Sunday, fueling debates over student athletes’ rights to social media use.

Bradley Patterson, a third-string long-snapper, tweeted a comment regarding Obama’s speech for the victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary containing a racial slur. Obama made his speech right before NBC’s coverage of Sunday Night Football began.

After uproar over the tweet, North Alabama’s athletic director Mark Linder tweeted the school removed Patterson from the team. He added that North Alabama doesn’t condone Patterson’s tweet, calling it “inappropriate.”

Patterson was not a major player for the team; he never dressed for games, was never listed on the team’s roster and didn’t receive scholarship.


trending

459

10 Student Organizations Breaking the Mold at Berkeley

182

Top 10 Spots Around Emerson College to Get Inspired

160

Top 10 Ways to Spot a UT Austin Alum


The incident adds to the debate over whether or not student athletes should have their social media use censored.

Sports Media Challenge is currently conducting a survey to address the issue of student athletes having Twitter accounts. The survey represents growing concern over distinguishing athletes’ individual views from representing those of the university.

Some universities are interested in banning social media use by athletes not in attempt to avoid being misrepresented, but in order to insure their teams remain intact. In 2005, the University of Kentucky’s administration started using Facebook photos involving drinking as evidence that athletes were violating the code of conduct.

Some schools are hoping to avoid losing their players to alcohol and other violations by taking preemptive measures and limiting their presence on social media, according to Leslie K. Autumn’s journal article on Student Censorship.

In 2005, Loyola University Chicago completely banned its student athletes from participating in any form of social media, according to Autumn. Many universities implemented policies that either limit social media use by athletes during the season, or set-up systems with strict rules that monitor their use closely. The University of Michigan recently imposed a policy requiring all student athletes to sign a social media policy, according to AnnArbor.com.

 According to College Sports, any form of regulating student athletes’ social media use by public universities could be a violation of the First Amendment. In order for a First Amendment violation to occur, the government has to be the one imposing censorship, therefore putting public universities at risk.

The issue at stake here is prior restraint, or attempting to censor speech before it occurs. In order to justify any social media regulation system, the universities would have to prove the social media use could cause societal harm.

According to College Sports, the universities would have a hard time proving that harm would be caused to anyone beyond themselves, making it relatively easy to make a First Amendment case.

Photos courtesy of Huffington Post

About Sarah Polus

Junior > Journalism > University of Maryland

What I Wish I Had Known About Mental Health So I Wouldn’t Have to Call Myself a College Dropout

Ant-Man Opens the Doors for Marvel’s New Phase

10 Boba Tea Spots for Houston College Students

10 Ways to Have Fun with Your Friends Indoors

Do You Actually Care, Or Do You Want to Look Like You Do?

unsplash.com

Top Ten Inspirational Quotes from Your Favorite Sports TV Shows

I lived with my three best friends. Here’s how it went.

21 Things to Do in Williamsburg When You’re Under 21

The Beauty and Pain of Living Alone

Previous Post:Student Spotlight: CM Interviews Artist Graham Yarrington
Next Post:Getting Through Finals Without Help

colleges

  • College Guides
  • College Rankings
  • Campus life
  • Academics
  • Dating
  • Freshmen Year
  • Health
  • Party

majors

  • All College Majors
  • Most Popular Majors
  • Choosing a Major

intern

  • Internships Directory
  • How to Write a Resume
  • How to Write a Cover Letter
  • How to Interview
  • How to Get an Internship
  • How to Network

money

  • How to Make Money
  • How to Save Money
  • How to Get a Job
  • Credit Cards 101
  • College Loans

travel

  • Study Abroad
  • College Spring Break
  • How to Travel Cheap
  • Things to Do

shop

  • College Packing List
  • Gift Guides
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

College Magazine logo

Copyright © 2023 Powered by BizBudding