Broaching the subject of student-athletes on social media is liable to cause many institutional leaders, communications officers, and athletics directors to reach for the antacid. The speed and reach of social media, particularly Twitter, combined with the youth and bravado of student-athletes can damage reputations and tarnish university brands within seconds of clicking "send." Some university athletics departments have thus required that athletes' social media accounts be monitored with special (and controversial) software programs such as Varsity Monitor and UDiligence. Some coaches have banned their athletes from tweeting during the competitive season or altogether. If sports are the front porch of a university, how can an institution protect its student-athletes as well as its brand? This article presents tips on how student-athletes can learn to use social media responsibly while protecting the university's brand, and it shows how athletics departments and campus communicators can join forces to harness the brand power of student-athletes for the good of the institution. The article also presents campus-wide communications best practices that institutions should consider to help protect against a social media controversy.