Student Clubs, Organizations, and Experiential Classes

Introduction

As a global institution, Babson College appreciates that diverse perspectives enrich the learning environment, fostering stronger critical thinking, empathy, and understanding.

As a student at Babson College, you are representing the College and are therefore expected to uphold our community standards, brand guidelines, and values.

Freedom of speech, thought, and expression is essential to fostering a campus culture where the open and respectful exchange of ideas can thrive. Meaningful discussion is central to problem-solving and deeper understanding, and we expect all conversations—whether in person or online—to remain civil, even when opinions differ.

Overview

It’s critical to remember that the social media world is no different than the in-person world.

The same laws, rules, policies, guidelines, and best practices that govern our relationships with student peers, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, the media, and the community all apply online.

Student clubs, organizations, and accounts created for experiential class purposes are as responsible for their online posts as they are for their personal verbal or written interactions. The one significant difference between the two worlds is that you must assume that everything you post is public, will be available to the public forever, and can be forwarded well beyond where you think your posts might land.

Rules of Engagement

In alignment with Babson’s values, we encourage students, clubs, organizations, and accounts created for experiential learning classes to consider the following when engaging online:

• Be Respectful: Engage thoughtfully, maintaining respect for others, even in disagreement.
• Avoid Personal Attacks: Focus on discussing ideas, not individuals. Harassment, discrimination, or threats of violence will not be tolerated.
• Think Before Posting: Consider how your words reflect you, your club, organization, or class’s reputation, and Babson’s values.
• Foster Inclusivity: Promote a space where diverse viewpoints are welcome and respected.
• Uphold College Standards: Ensure any reference to Babson reflects the institution's values and standards.

Additional Considerations

• Account Administration: Ensure that there is a designated account owner and back-up account owner. Use a strong, unique password, and keep account credentials between these two individuals.
  Ensure a transition plan is in place when club/organization leadership changes. Upon completion of an experiential learning class, consider saving your content and deleting your account.
• Content Strategy: Clearly define the purpose of your account, and establish a consistent tone and voice. Create a content calendar, and use Babson College’s logos and colors.
• Accessibility: Use clear language that’s easy to understand. When creating video content, build in captions.
• Crisis Communication: In times of crises, whether local, regional, or global, consider pausing posting. Consider when to report or hide what is deemed to be inappropriate comments.
• Copyrighted Media: Only share images and videos that the club/organization/class has the rights to.
• Analytics: Track performance of your posts to understand what content resonates.

Questions/Concerns

Have a question or concern you would like to express? Please email us: