UTRGV Facebook group continues to enforce rules
UTRGV Students is the official Facebook group for currently enrolled students. The page was created on April 18, 2017, by University Marketing and Communications as an effort to create a central hub that would foster communication and engagement among students.
The community is the most actively engaged UTRGV Facebook group, with over 16,000 members.
To join the group, active students must send a request through Facebook, which will be reviewed by University Marketing and Communications. Students are required to input their university email and consent to the provided community guidelines to submit a request.
The UTRGV Social Media Department created the guidelines as a collaborative effort with the former Dean of Students Rebecca Gadson.
Josse Garrido, director of Digital Marketing and Analytics for University Marketing and Communications, said the guidelines were created to protect students from hate speech or bullying.
He said because dual enrollment students are part of the Facebook group, restrictions on foul language and explicit images were put in place to protect students under age 18.
Garrido said posts deemed inappropriate will be removed from the page. However, students who feel their posts were removed unfairly can submit an appeal to socialmedia@utrgv.edu.
After the appeal is submitted, the department will communicate the issue with the student to find a resolution.
“There’s only been a very few instances where students have complained about that,” Garrido said. “Generally speaking, it actually goes very well. Our students are very reasonable.”
Aaron Worthington, a criminal justice senior and digital community assistant for University Marketing and Communications, monitors the UTRGV Students Facebook Page to ensure guidelines are followed.
Worthington said when he comes across a post that does not follow the guidelines, he reaches out to the student asking them to voluntarily take down their post. If their post is not removed, he turns off the post comments. The ultimate decision to remove a post is made by Garrido.
“I understand everybody has their right to freedom of expression, but at the same time, you have to follow the rules like everybody else,” he said. “We tolerate zero bullying in the group; we tolerate zero sexual harassment.”
Worthington said he encourages students and faculty to post information on the Facebook group.
“We are a community and we want to make sure that everybody is kept updated with what’s going on here,” he said.
Caleb Gomez, an electrical engineering junior and member of the UTRGV Students Facebook group, said a post promoting a garage sale at his house was removed from the page.
Gomez was confused about his post being removed but believes having community guidelines in the group is important.
“You don’t want to just [have] random people posting whatever that doesn’t align with, like, education,” he said.
Gomez said he will continue to participate in the group while keeping the community guidelines in mind.