The Twitter account @ACUCrushes was issued a cease and desist warning from the university last Tuesday.
Since its creation on Oct. 7, the popular account has gained over 1,200 followers.
@ACUCrushes allowed students to submit anonymous comments about other students via ask.fm, which would then be posted to the account.
The Twitter account is one of many like it on college campuses across Texas and in the country, including Baylor, University of Texas and Hardin Simmons University.
Stacy Campos, sophomore nursing major from Garland, has been mentioned on @ACUCrushes but was not fond of the attention.
“I don’t care for it,” Campos said.
The rising popularity of the Twitter account resulted in more than 400 tweets, some of which could be considered lewd or offensive.
As a result, the university (@ACUedu) mentioned @ACUCrushes in a tweet on Nov. 12 that contained a link to the warning.
“We wanted to make you aware that posts on your Twitter account may violate Abilene Christian University’s Anti-Harassment Policy,” the warning stated. “In other words, you are risking the possibility that someone may file a harassment complaint against you.”
The warning also instructed the account holder to stop posting and warned against contacting anyone who could file a complaint.
The warning was issued under Title IX of the Education Acts of 1972, which states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
“Some examples of sexual harassment include: sexual innuendos, jokes or comments, disparaging remarks to a person about his or her gender or body and displaying or transmitting sexually suggestive electronic content, including emails and texts,” said Wendy Jones, ACU’s Title IX coordinator.
The consequences for violation of Title IX can result in anything from verbal warning to expulsion, Jones said.
“Above and beyond the policy, I hope the conversation that is occurring on our campus is that we should hold ourselves to a much higher standard than the world does,” Jones said. “We are a Christian university and I would hope our Christianity would reflect Christ in all aspects of our lives, including our social media identity.”
However, to some students the warning may seem a little extensive.
Taylor Crumpton, freshman psychology major from Coppell, is one of these students.
“I found it funny that they were issued a warning because I didn’t see @ACUCrushes as a form of harassment,” Crumpton said.
The account has not tweeted, but has not been taken down, after the warning was issued last week.