When Nicole Barel emailed her teacher to inquire about missing class for Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, it prompted an unexpected and offensive response. 

But not from her professor.

The freshman interior design and environmental analysis student at Cornell University had accidentally added an extra digit to the email address and, as a result, received a response disrespecting her faith and decision to miss class. Days later, Barel discovered she was the target of a Cornell alumnus’ prank, the Cornell Daily Sun reported on Sept. 21.

“It’s simply nonsense, and to say that you’ll be skipping four hours of important, contemporary instruction is blasphemous to science and shows a grievous misappropriation of your time and priorities,” said the email from the graduate student, made available by the Cornell Daily Sun.

Barel was shocked and angry when she received the email, which she thought her professor had sent, she said in an email.

“I think all I said for about a half-hour until I knew the truth was ‘I’m getting this guy fired; I cannot wait to get this anti-Semite fired,’” she said.

Barel contacted several members of the administration to express her concern. In an email sent to the president, dean of students, Barel’s faculty adviser and the rabbi at the Center for Jewish Life, among others, Barel said the email “discriminates and belittles (her) faith.”

It was Barel’s friend who first picked up on the typo in the teacher’s email address. Bruce Monger, the introductory oceanography teacher Barel tried to contact, has the email bcm3@cornell.edu. Monger said in an email that Barel accidentally added a second 3 to the address, which sent the email to 2010 alumnus Brian Mick.

Mick impersonated the teacher, changing his account’s display name to Bruce Monger, adding the teacher’s personal information at the end of the email and responding in a professional and timely fashion. Monger said the contents of the email, however, were the “polar-opposite” of how he would have responded.

Monger compared Mick to someone who would randomly shoot in a crowd in an attempt to express his world view.

“It might equally have just been meant as a purely heartless attack on a completely innocent freshman just for the thrill of the attack,” he said.

Barel was not the only student offended on campus, said Sarah Balik, a Jewish sophomore studying animal science at Cornell. She and her friends at Hillel heard about the incident in the paper and found Mick’s actions to be “absolutely abhorrent.”

“It was pretty offensive and I took it very personally,” Balik said. “If I was (Barel), maybe I would consider transferring.”

Monger said despite writing an apologetic letter to the Daily Sun and the parties involved, Mick still proved himself to be “a near perfect liar with his initial email.”

The administration said it would take no formal action against Mick because he is out of its jurisdiction, the Daily Sun reported.

The incident has incited anger among several students and religious groups, said Jeffrey Rossi, a sophomore biology major at Cornell.

But, he said, many also understand the university’s limitations given that Mick is an alumnus of the university and not a student.

Karen Dietrich, a junior natural resources major, said she agrees with the administration’s decision, despite Mick’s “shameful and appalling” email.

“If I were the university, I would feel like I’m in a very odd position,” Dietrich said. “I don’t think the university can take any legal action at this point.”

 

Published on October 4, 2012 at 2:44 am

Contact Andrew: asmuckel@syr.edu