Written by Abby J Kellett
Will the real President Burks please stand up?
Recently, nearly 300 people “befriended” President David B. Burks on Facebook, wrote on his wall and even used the social media site to tag him in photographs.
All the information on the Facebook page is correct, and the man in the photographs is indeed Burks.
However, it is all a fraud.
Burks is dealing with multiple cases of identity theft on Facebook. The fake accounts send friend requests, wall posts and even messages in his name. Though the issue is no laughing matter, Burks’ office was notified of a prank one identity thief recently played.
Nate Copeland, Burks’ assistant, said the owner of one fake account messaged an individual from Texas inviting him to speak in chapel. Had the person not called the office to clarify the details of his supposed speech, Copeland said he does not know what would have happened.
Burks does have a legitimate Facebook account that he created for reasons other than recruiting chapel speakers and making friends. He uses his Facebook page to help him communicate with his Wednesday night home Bible study group.
“He mostly uses (his account) to let them know what the topic will be that they’re discussing that week, and for things like that,” Copeland said.
While his Facebook page is restricted to his Bible study group, the group is open to anyone — a fact made clear in a chapel announcement at the beginning of the fall semester. Out of all the chapel attendees who heard the announcement, only around 30 attend the small group.
Junior accounting major Jennifer Kee does not attend Burks’ small group, but she is a daily Facebook user, and now is also among the number of students who accepted the phony friend request.
“I thought that it might be fake just because I didn’t think he’d actually make a Facebook and add all the students on it,” Kee said. “But I went ahead and accepted it because I just thought it was funny.”
Kee says she usually checks her Facebook multiple times a day, but has always doubted the authenticity of the David B. Burks account.
“It had all his information, but if you think about it, there’s no way Dr. Burks seriously has time for that,” Kee said in reference to the hundreds of friends now associated with the fake page.
Burks is a busy man, but Copeland has been the president’s assistant for several years and does not manage the president’s Facebook account in any way.
“He’s his own man on Facebook. I helped him set it up, but other than that he’s been handling all of it,” Copeland said.
Harding University does not have a policy against creating counterfeit social media accounts, but Burks’ office made Facebook aware of the fraudulent versions of the president’s page and is actively pursuing the company to remove the fake accounts.
