The University of Pennsylvania is currently looking into a situation where some community members received what they described as “highly offensive and harmful messages” that seemed to come from the institution itself. This problematic email appeared to be sent early Friday and was on the letterhead of the University College of Education.
The subject line declared, “You’ve been hacked,” based on a copy seen by sources. Within the email, the sender urged people to “stop donating” to the university, labeling education institutions as “elitist, full of woke people.”
The message continued with critiques of the university’s security policies and hiring practices, stating, “We have terrible security practices and are not completely meritocratic. We hire and accept idiots because we love our heritage and our donors and unqualified affirmative action allows.”
A spokesperson from Pennsylvania remarked that the email was “obviously” fake and “highly offensive.” They confirmed that “a fraudulent email” had been sent, mimicking the university’s Graduate School of Education. The spokesperson emphasized that this message does not reflect the values or mission of the university. The Office of Information Security is aware of the issue and is taking action.
While they stated there had not been a breach, they are investigating the message’s origin. A university spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests regarding hacking claims.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the university acknowledged the circulating emails. They described these communications as inaccurately sent from a Graduate School of Education account and assured that their information security office was addressing the issue.
The university expressed their apologies for any distress the emails caused, noting that beyond the inconvenience, these messages were genuinely harmful.
Elizabeth Cooper, an IT help desk manager at the university, also communicated about the matter to members of the Annenberg School for Communication, highlighted in reports from the Daily Pennsylvanian, the school’s student newspaper. Cooper pointed out that these emails were reaching people outside of UPenn as well and suggested that a malicious individual had accessed an external email list.
Additionally, services from Penn State Medical Academic Computing and the School of Nursing’s IT department acknowledged the concerning emails, reaffirming that steps are being taken to manage the situation.
