Rose-Hulman Facebookers: we've been had!

<p>So, I know I mentioned that there are two Facebook groups for potential members of the class of 2014. Apparently, the larger one--the one to which I have been contributing discussions and photos--may well be fraudulent, part of a data mining scheme that began last year (Google "Facebookgate 2013" for more information). </p>

<p>Usually, I pride myself on being able to sniff out a fraud when I see it. Unfortunately, I have fallen down on the job in this instance. I would warn anyone who is considering joining a Rose group to look for the one without a hyphen in the name (it is labeled Rose Hulman Class of 2014). This appears to be the one that is legitimate, created by a future student rather than by a company of Facebook "squatters." </p>

<p>I would also urge the RHIT rep, if he is reading this, to cross-reference the name of the admin of the group marked "Rose-Hulman Institute Technology - Class of 2014 (OFFICIAL GROUP)" with the list of accepted students and those whose applications are pending. If her name is not found to be among them, he may be within his rights, as a representative of the institute, to alert Facebook to the squatters so that the group may be taken down. I believe similar attempts by university administrators at various other institutions, such as Duke and Butler, were successful last year. </p>

<p>This being said, I'm very excited by the possibility of going to Rose next year and hope to see many of you from this forum on Facebook--and on campus next year. :)</p>

<p>One of my students who likes to answer questions in this forum alerted me to your post. I will cross-check and notify Facebook, if necessary. We are very serious about our students’ and potential students’ privacy. If this is a fraud, we refuse to have our name associated with it. So, first thing tomorrow morning, my detective hat goes on…</p>

<p>Jared Goulding
Assistant Director of Admissions</p>