The KU Fraternity Turkey Death By Hazing Story Just Got Funnier

Dillon Cheverere12 years ago

The story out of Lawrence, Kansas — the one about the members of Beta Theta Pi having a casual game of catch with a live turkey like a father and son would a pigskin in the front yard on Sunday afternoon, and then killed it to put it out of its misery — just added a slight element of humor.

Jennah Dibiase, an animal lover from Indiana, after learning of the unfortunate incident, wrote an email to the University of Kansas Deans of the school of education (the first names she found on the KU website) with the suggestion of student expulsions. She received a response from Jim Lichtenberg, associate dean for graduate programs, only it wasn’t exactly the tone she was expecting.

The “reply all” mishap claims another victim.

[Lichtenberg] sent her an email Wednesday that made fun of the whole animal abuse incident and included a slang term describing masturbation. He thought it was going to only two colleagues, Rick Ginsberg and Sally Roberts, who also had received Dibiase’s email.

“At first I was excited when it popped into my inbox,” she said. “I really didn’t think anyone would respond. But then I read it and I was like, ‘Oh my God, he thinks it is all a joke.’”

The email has not been released as far as I can tell, but I’ve been around enough masturbation jokes to ascertain the language used here. Who wants to take a crack at the masturbation joke Lichty used in that email? My guess was a play on the age-old “choking the chicken” one, but he went with “choking the turkey” for obvious reasons. A real knee-slapper.

Lichty apologized.

“That I would craft such an email was most certainly a significant lapse in judgment on my part,” he wrote, adding that his email was not intended to make light of the incident.

After hearing from The Star, he also sent an email apology to Dibiase.

“My email on which you were included but which should never have been crafted is a personal and professional embarrassment,” he wrote.

The “reply all” feature is so dangerous, man.

[Source]