U of MN employee sends hate mail to AFA; apologizes

Source (with vulgar language editted a bit more by me)

The following email from Greg Perrizo was received on our AFA mail server on October 25, 2005 in response to an article by AFA Special Projects Director Randy Sharp which appeared on Agape Press. Click here to see the article.

Mr. Perrizo wrote:

What a F------ A------!!! The stupidity and disgustingly ignorant comments of Randy Sharp and the AFA are appalling to say the least. You people are so obsessed with gay sex you can't think about anything else. And you call gays perverts....wow, the irony!

A response sent by AFA resulted in this:

There is no apology due to Randy Sharp. People that write such heinous, hateful, disturbing things deserve to be called on it. I know that your organization feeds on the sensationalism of distorting the truth. I am tired of the filthy lies being spread by people such as Randy Sharp and supported by organizations like the AFA. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. I will continue to speak out against ignorance and hate whenever I encounter it.

After an email campaign by AFA members, the university president responded and Perrizo apologized. From an update email:

Yesterday (November 2), we received the following response from President Bruininks:

"Thank you for your email voicing concern regarding a University employee's use of offensive language to describe his views in an email using his University account.

"The University promotes a culture of tolerance and mutual respect and does not condone this kind of language. Our Code of Conduct policy establishes the expectation that all University employees adhere to the highest ethical standards of professional conduct and integrity. We are addressing this matter internally, and I am sure you understand state law prohibits discussing personnel matters publicly.

"Our understanding is that the employee has apologized for the manner in which he articulated his opinion. We appreciate your taking the time to share your concerns and your interest in the University of Minnesota."


In addition, we received the following apology from the state employee:

"After serious reflection, I would like to apologize to Mr. Sharp for the comments I posted on your website on 25 October, 2005. I acted in anger and now in retrospect I regret the way in which I communicated and worded my comments. Please accept my apology and relay this message to Mr. Sharp. Thank you for your time."