Social Media Policy

The social media policy applies to all associates who work for or attend Earlham College or Earlham School of Religion or represent the College in any official capacity. These guidelines are designed to help and intended to advise in making appropriate decisions when managing and/or developing social media initiatives on behalf of the college.

3.1 Getting started

Before creating social media content that represents Earlham’s brand, please contact the Office of Marketing and Communications. It is important to consider how your activity on social media will advance the mission of the College without interfering with other affinity accounts already in operation. While an account may be intended for an internal audience, there is always a chance that content will be seen by external audiences — prospective students, parents, employees at other institutions.

It is also important to consider the time commitment necessary to maintain a long-term presence on social media. Without a sustainable plan, social media accounts can become inactive or forgotten over time, resulting in plans for removal from the relevant social network. Inactive accounts can be counterproductive to maximizing our collective efforts on social networks.

3.2 Naming conventions

For account names on social media platforms, we recommend using “Earlham” or “Earlham College” for the first words, as appropriate, for consistency and best results in searches. If this is not possible, please include “Earlham” in the name in another place for example:

• Earlham College XXXX Department
• Earlham College Alumni
• Earlham Womens Soccer
• Earlham Biology
• Earlham School of Religion
• Earlham Black Student Union
• Earlham Public Safety

3.3 Account administration and creation of new accounts

If you manage an existing account or plan to start an account that represents Earlham College or Earlham School of Religion in any official capacity (i.e. division, program page accounts, athletics team accounts, Student Life accounts including clubs and organizations), you must have more than one person as an administrator on the account.

As part of the ongoing process to ensure continuity for any and all accounts created under Earlham or Earlham School of Religion, those who manage official accounts are required to share administrative access with the main Earlham account and login information with the Office of Marketing and Communications.

In order to create a new account, the Office of Marketing and Communications has partnered with the Office of Information Technology to request a specific social media alias email that will then be used to create and manage accounts. This will be an earlham.edu email that can be connected to anyone running the account.

This applies to official accounts managed by employees and students. The intent is not to interfere with content, rather to limit liability and risk for the College and to ensure that account ownership automatically transfers if an account manager leaves the college or graduates.

We encourage login information to be shared and updated securely with the Office of Marketing and Communications via links generated by passlink.earlham.edu including: username, password and the names of the people currently running the account.

3.4 Expectations for professional/Earlham-affiliated accounts

When using social media for official Earlham business, consider the College’s Principles and Practices, policies and editorial standards when sharing information or managing accounts. Remember that all of your posts, comments, and actions on social networks have the ability to affect the reputation of the college, as well as other individuals affiliated with Earlham. Misuse of Earlham-affiliated social media accounts could result in termination of the account.

Make sure you are always honest and accurate when posting information or news about Earlham. Never post rumors. Do write for your audiences, but know that your posts can reach anyone and may be misinterpreted or risk showing up outside of their original, intended context.

We are all human and mistakes are a part of life. When a mistake occurs, correct it quickly. Be open about any previous posts you have altered. The Internet archives virtually everything. Therefore, it is imperative to use good judgment.

Please help us maintain our strong reputation for excellence in the liberal arts on social media. It is imperative that you are mindful of spelling and grammar when making a post. Visuals should reflect Earlham’s brand guidelines. Imagery should be in focus and audio should be audible.

Teaching faculty who wish to use public social media as part of teaching, learning, and research activities should take active steps to prevent violations of FERPA, HIPAA, and NCAA regulations. Any content or online activity created by the site owner or a poster that violates these ordinances or leads to the release of a student’s private information is prohibited and should be removed.

Requiring students to register for, post, upload, or otherwise communicate via a public social media platform (such as Facebook, Instagram, and others) raises concerns about privacy, accessibility, and equity that make such required assignments potentially problematic. If needed, the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs can help teaching faculty determine whether proposed content or use of social media might create the potential for a violation of regulations.

3.5 Expectations for personal social media use

Earlham respects employee online social networking and internet use for personal and professional pursuits.

When using social media for professional networking or personal reasons, express only your own personal or professional opinions. Never represent yourself as a spokesperson for Earlham College or Earlham School of Religion, or make knowingly false representations about your credentials or your work on social media. If Earlham College or Earlham School of Religion is a subject of the content you are creating, be clear and open about the fact that you are an employee and make it clear that your views do not necessarily represent those of the College, employees, students, volunteers, suppliers, vendors, or people working on behalf of Earlham. To prevent FERPA violations, do not post personally identifiable information about students. If you do publish a blog or post online related to the work you do or subjects associated with Earlham, make it clear that you are not speaking on behalf of Earlham. It is best to include a disclaimer in a prominent location such as:

The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Earlham College or Earlham School of Religion, their employees, vendors, students, and any other Earlham-affiliated party or competition.

The teaching and learning of the liberal arts at Earlham College rest on the principle of free inquiry and open discourse. The expression of differing opinions — political or otherwise —in the classroom, online, or on campus more widely, insofar as it does not directly disparage, threaten, or harm individuals, would not normally fall under harassment. This principle, however, does not imply that all manner of speech, whether vocal or online, must be tolerated. Various forms of verbal intimidation lie beyond the bounds of academic freedom.

Employees must keep in mind that if they post information on a social media site that is in violation of Earlham policies (including policies on discrimination, harassment, and bullying), as well as federal, state, or local law – including, but not limited to posts that are discriminatory, constitute harassment, include threats of intents to incite violence, or violate copyright laws — the disclaimer will not shield disciplinary action. For personal accounts, Earlham encourages a similar approach to Principles and Practices as outlined in Section D above.

3.6 Personal and professional social media accounts (students)

Students should be informed about the public nature of their postings and that the content may be available on the internet years beyond the end of a particular class. Copyright law must be respected and material created by the site owner or a poster must not infringe on someone else’s rights of publicity, privacy, copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights.

3.7 Fundraising

Social media accounts affiliated with Earlham College or any division or department therein must consult with the Office of Institutional Advancement and the Office of Marketing and Communications before engaging in any fundraising efforts on social media. Please notify the Office of Institutional Advancement at least 30 days ahead of your planned fundraiser.

3.8 Media contacts

Employees should not speak to the media on Earlham College’s behalf without contacting the Office of Marketing and Communications. All media inquiries should be directed to Brian Zimmerman, Assistant Vice President for Strategic Communications.

3.9 Social media contacts

For general questions related to social media at Earlham (i.e. starting a new social media account, retrieving logins for social media accounts, featuring certain content on one or more channels etc.), please contact the Office of Marketing and Communications. Direct social media inquiries should be made to Tsitsi Makufa, Social Media Specialist.

• Administrative access: Permission to manage a social media account’s users, credentials, settings, security, and content.
• Affinity accounts: Social media accounts associated with an Earlham department, division, program, team, club, organization, constituency, or area of interest.
• Associates: Individuals who work for, attend, or officially represent Earlham College or one of its divisions or departments, including Earlham School of Religion.
• Brand standards: Guidelines for written and visual communications about Earlham.
• Disclaimer: A statement clarifying that an individual’s views do not necessarily represent Earlham College or any of its divisions or programs, including Earlham School of Religion.
• Earlham-affiliated social media accounts: Social media accounts associated with or representing Earlham College or one of its divisions (including Earlham School of Religion), departments, programs, teams, clubs, or organizations.
• Login information: Information used to access a social media account, including the username and password.
• Official accounts: Social media accounts that represent Earlham College or one of its divisions (including Earlham School of Religion), departments, programs, teams, clubs, or organizations in an official capacity.
• Personally identifiable information: Information that directly identifies a person or makes the person’s identity reasonably ascertainable.
• Public social media platform: A social media platform on which content or activity may be accessible to people outside Earlham.
• Social media: Platforms through which users create, publish, share, or interact with content, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, YouTube, and Snapchat.
• Social media alias email: An Earlham-issued email address established to create and manage social media accounts.

October 14, 2026: Amended to include definitions