On Monday, the College Republicans at the University of Wisconsin-Madison sent a cordial campus-wide email asking students, professors and administrators to support a budget proposal by Republican Gov. Scott Walker that includes cuts to higher education.
The email from “gopbadgers” also diplomatically suggested the possibility of civil dialogue about the contentious issue.
Several students at the flagship state school responded with vitriol, telling the Republican group to “fuck off” and calling the members “cunts,” among much else.
One recipient created an account called called “GOPhuckYourself” in the name of the College Republicans for Pornhub, the smut website.
“Fuck off,” succinctly wrote Adam Frees (and, for the record, Alex Coakley) in response to the email from the College Republicans.
Frees identifies himself on his Facebook page as a researcher at the University of Wisconsin. (Previously, he says, worked at The Original Pancake House.)
“Kindly fuck off,” slightly further elaborated Ryan Dunk.
“Fuck Scott Walker,” coolly argued Margot Franchett from her iPhone.
Franchett belongs to the UW Madison College Democrats, according to her Facebook page.
“Fuck you and the horse you rode in on,” spewed Daniel Hein. “Walker apologists.”
“Fuck republicans [sic],” berated Teagen Warrick. “They are ignorant and hateful people.”
Warrick’s Facebook likes include Bodybuilding.com.
“Listen you cunts, Don’t email me this political bullshit,” wrote Wilson Towne in a furious run-on sentence.
Despite his professed distaste for “political bullshit,” Towne’s Facebook likes include Say No To Scott Walker’s Budget Cuts, the Sierra Club and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
“He is a pig,” declared Robert Curry, concerning Walker.
“He put this into motion because he wants to eliminate intelligence in wisconsin [sic] and its [sic] disgusting,” charged Gabriel Santiago Montoya-Rivera.
“Scott Walker is nothing more than a tool of the 1 percent,” proclaimed James Pedley. “He jumps when the Koch brother tells him to. He would be out of office right now had he not orchestrated a massive cover up [sic].”
“Please do not contact me again,” begged Katherine Essenburg concerning the campus-wide email from a recognized school group.
“Piss off and do not contact me again,” similarly pleads Christopher Veit in an angry rant.
Student groups are allowed one all-campus email per year, College Republicans spokesman Charlie Hoffmann told The Daily Caller.
The group chose to spend its single email defending the budget cuts proposed by Walker in part because members believe school administrators are using their platforms to criticize the cuts.
“Essentially, the university is lobbying the students and alumni,” Hoffmann told TheDC.
“Having a @wisc.edu email address” means receiving “numerous emails” from the school chancellor and other administrators “with a distinct, common theme,” Hoffman explained in an additional statement. “They told us to fight the cuts. This was their war horn sounding the rallying cry.”
At the same time, University of Wisconsin officials have asked the state government for more autonomy, according to Hoffman. Walker’s budget plan gives school leaders the autonomy they seek, he said, in exchange for less direct state funding.
The plan is similar to Wisconsin Act 10, a 2011 bill proposed by Walker and passed by the state legislature to address a projected $3.6 billion budget deficit. The response to Walker’s budget-cutting legislation was protests galore and three years of losing lawsuits.
Hoffman said he and the rest of the Wisconsin College Republicans were surprised by the level of “distasteful and ridiculous” malice in the email responses.
“We didn’t think it was going to go over the greatest, but we didn’t think it was going to be as nasty and negative as it was,” he told TheDC.
Hoffmann also noted that the Wisconsin College Republicans received a few civil email responses amid the wrathful retorts, and that the group won’t be using the Pornhub account opened with its email account.
Walker has two college-aged sons, Matt and Alex. Both are currently enrolled at Wisconsin universities. (One attends Marquette; the other attends Wisconsin.)
“It’s disappointing to see a vulgar and tasteless response to the UW Madison College Republicans email to spark discussion,” Matt Walker told The Daily Caller in an email. “These bullying tactics should not be a part of the debate and it is unfortunate to see hate mail like this.”
Matt Walker also laid out his reasons for supporting budget cuts.
“The facts of the matter are that the budget seeks to reform the way the University of Wisconsin system is governed that could result in $150 million per year in savings,” he said. “The budget adjustment represents 2.5 percent of the total system budget. Plus, holding to his promise to keep tuition affordable, the budget also continues a freeze on tuition for two more years. The budget will reform government to make it more efficient and effective for the people of Wisconsin.”
The full text of the campus-wide email sent by the University of Wisconsin College Republicans is on the next page. The title of the email was “A Stronger Future for the UW.”
Dear University of Wisconsin community,
You have heard a lot about Governor Scott Walker’s proposal regarding the UW-System. His proposal will be talked about in classrooms, dorm rooms and throughout the university. Already the dialogue has unfortunately devolved into name-calling and mistruths.
At this point the bill is in its beginning stages. What is being proposed will not be exactly what is passed. What does this mean to you? This means that the door for dialogue and engagement is wide open. Before you attend a protest or sign a petition, come to your own conclusion.
Proposals like these have worked elsewhere. In 2005, Virginia passed a similar bill to what Walker is proposing. It granted more autonomy to the state system as long as the system met certain educational goals and requirements laid out by the legislature. More autonomy coupled with more accountability. Like Walkers proposal, the passage of the bill was also coupled with cuts to their state system. In fact, the Virginia state system faced a 27% cut, in comparison with the 13% that the UW-System is facing.
The cuts being proposed are significant. This is not something that is debatable. But remember, these cuts are coming on the heels of the UW-System hiding $1 billion in a slush fund while lobbying for tuition increases. This led to the Governor giving this money back to the students in the form of a tuition freeze. The autonomy plan is also something very different and will take work to put the UW-System in the best position for success now and in the future.
This conversation will continue throughout the next couple of months. Engage in constructive dialogue. Come to your own conclusions. It will be a challenge. It will take work. But together we can use this to propel our school to new heights.
On Wisconsin,
College Republicans of UW-Madison
Follow Eric on Twitter. Like Eric on Facebook. Send education-related story tips to erico@dailycaller.com.
(Images courtesy of University of Wisconsin College Republicans)