As the Inter-Residence Hall Association found out this summer, Facebook pictures of an on-campus party with underage drinking can get you in trouble with UF.
After pictures from a party in April got the attention of housing officials, IRHA found itself before the Student Conduct Committee, which concluded the organization was responsible for violating the Student Conduct Code and sanctioned it for the first time in its history.
The committee, composed of students and faculty, determined IRHA was guilty of underage possession or consumption of alcohol, distribution or sale of alcohol to underage people and violation of university policy.
As a result, the organization received a written reprimand - which goes in its file - and executive board members are required to attend an ethical decision-making seminar and then conduct a presentation on ethics to all the voting members of IRHA. The sanctions became official in July.
Individual members of the organization were also sanctioned, said Chris Loschiavo, director of UF's Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution, but he said the records are confidential.
The party, which occurred on April 24 in a Beaty Towers dorm, was attended by 17 people, 10 of whom were members of IRHA. Three of the partygoers were executive officers.
Beer pong was also played - which is a violation of the conduct code when it happens on campus - but IRHA wasn't sanctioned for it.
Though members of the organization protested that the party was not sponsored by IRHA, the committee found otherwise.
Loschiavo said one of the main reasons the committee decided it was an IRHA event was that many of the organization's leaders knew about or attended the event.
The Facebook photo album with party pictures was also titled "IRHA Bash," he said, and the party was held in an executive officer's dorm, which is paid for by UF.
In a statement to the committee, the IRHA member who named the Facebook album said the title was never meant to indicate IRHA's sponsorship. Other members, including Patricia Jordan, IRHA's president, noted that no IRHA funds were used for the event.
According to Loschiavo, this wasn't the first time UF has looked into a party after pictures of the event were posted on Facebook.
"We've followed up on fraternities and sororities in that situation as well," he said.
He said his office will take evidence in whatever form it's available.
"If we become aware of a policy violation, we don't look the other way, no matter what the way of finding out about it is," he said.
