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File under "really poor decisions to hit 'reply all'": A University of Iowa gender and women's studies professor did just that on Monday, after receiving a mass email from the College Republicans about an upcoming event. Her poetic reply? "F*** YOU, REPUBLICANS." Predictably, outrage has ensued. The email, sent to the entire university community, was about Conservative Coming Out Week—a membership drive in which conservatives are supposed to "come out of the closet" and wear red—and had been approved by school officials.
But in her (first) follow-up email, Ellen Lewin called the email "unsolicited" and wrote that she received it after "I had just finished reading some newspaper accounts of fresh outrages committed by Republicans in government." She continued, "I admit the language was inappropriate, and apologize for any affront to anyone’s delicate sensibilities." Some 15 minutes later, she sent another email, calling parts of the group's email "extremely offensive, nearly rising to the level of obscenity." The university's president addressed the incident via—of course—a mass email, writing, "Intolerant and disrespectful discord is not acceptable behavior." Click through to the Iowa Republican to read the emails in their entirety.
