Ohio State Chief: 'Can't Trust Those Damn Catholics'

Gordon Gee is on the apology circuit after his jokes about Notre Dame
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 30, 2013 6:43 PM CDT

Ohio State President Gordon Gee is on the apology trail—familiar turf for him—after the AP got hold of audio in which he makes some unfortunate jokes about the Catholic leaders of Notre Dame. (It's not helping his cause that Gee is Mormon.) He doesn't sound malicious so much as like the uncle at Thanksgiving dinner who thinks of himself as a real card:

  • "The fathers are holy on Sunday, and they're holy hell on the rest of the week," Gee said during a December meeting.
  • "You just can't trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or a Friday, and so, literally, I can say that." (People were laughing.)

Which has led to his latest statement: "The comments I made were just plain wrong, and in no way do they reflect what the university stands for. They were a poor attempt at humor and entirely inappropriate. There is no excuse for this and I am deeply sorry." The AP story points out that Gee has previously apologized for comparing the school's myriad divisions to the Polish army and for a disparaging remark about the "Little Sisters of the Poor," which happens to be a real organization of nuns in Ohio. The university, which pays Gee a handsome salary of $1.9 million, says he will have some kind of "remediation" because of the latest remarks. (More Gordon Gee stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X