College Alums Miffed By 'Blah Blah' Letter
Officials Say Missive Was Attempt At Humor
POSTED: 6:40 am EDT October 21,
2008
UPDATED: 6:27 pm EDT October 21,
2008
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BOSTON -- Any group trying to fund-raise these days tries any and all approaches they think might work to reach untapped resources -- anything and including the word "blah."But curiously, it's that word "blah" that's turned a college fundraiser into a bit of a controversy.
College Alums Miffed By 'Blah Blah' Letter NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu reported Tuesday that in an attempt to reach generation X'ers who recently graduated from Framingham State and who are traditionally poor contributors at this stage of their careers, the alumni office used the word blah 137 times."Today, the fact of the matter is that deserving students need help to finance their education. Blah, blah, blah, blah blah," the letter said."I just think it's unprofessional. It's a poor representation of what we stand for. We pride ourselves on our image, and it failed," said Student Government President Steve Whittemore.So how successful was the letter? About 6,000 students were solicited. Several dozen responded, and $2,000 was collected."If you got this letter, would you send money?" Wu asked."I would throw this out," one student said."I would think it was a kid playing a prank," another student said.Complaints to the college president resulted in a follow up letter of apology, in which Timothy Flanagan said, "It's not the kind of letter I want associated with Framingham State."School officials refused NewsCenter 5's request for an interview, but statements to the student newspaper didn't clarify much."The different people from the different departments involved in the whole fiasco seemed to give conflicting explanations and seemed to have a lack of communications as far as who saw the letter before it was sent out," said Caitlin McCabe, of the Gatepost.
College Alums Miffed By 'Blah Blah' Letter NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu reported Tuesday that in an attempt to reach generation X'ers who recently graduated from Framingham State and who are traditionally poor contributors at this stage of their careers, the alumni office used the word blah 137 times."Today, the fact of the matter is that deserving students need help to finance their education. Blah, blah, blah, blah blah," the letter said."I just think it's unprofessional. It's a poor representation of what we stand for. We pride ourselves on our image, and it failed," said Student Government President Steve Whittemore.So how successful was the letter? About 6,000 students were solicited. Several dozen responded, and $2,000 was collected."If you got this letter, would you send money?" Wu asked."I would throw this out," one student said."I would think it was a kid playing a prank," another student said.Complaints to the college president resulted in a follow up letter of apology, in which Timothy Flanagan said, "It's not the kind of letter I want associated with Framingham State."School officials refused NewsCenter 5's request for an interview, but statements to the student newspaper didn't clarify much."The different people from the different departments involved in the whole fiasco seemed to give conflicting explanations and seemed to have a lack of communications as far as who saw the letter before it was sent out," said Caitlin McCabe, of the Gatepost.Copyright 2008 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
