And here I thought the state was best known for just missing teeth, silly me.
Somethings are simply too easy.
As the University of Kentucky signs men’s basketball coach John Calipari to a new seven-year deal worth $52.5 million guaranteed, effectively making him the highest-paid educator in the state, the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) an organization who’s mission it is to improve the state’s students’ access to higher education, seemed to drop the ball in the worst possible way with a recent publication…by printing the word Kentucky on the spine of the book to read ‘Kentucy.’
The book in question is sent out to high school juniors across the state, ironically outlining what students need to know to prepare for college, which in their case should include knowing how to spell the name of the state they live in.
WOW. Students just received this from @KHEAA. They should have consulted Twitter on design & spelling first. @KHESLC pic.twitter.com/oTv1HF9ZbD
— Liz Palmer (@lizpalmer1) June 5, 2014
Of course, parents and students wasted no time in informing the KHEAA of their mistake, of which according to a spokesperson, they are fully aware of, but cannot do anything about due to the fact that to reprinting and redistributing the guide would cost about $70,000, so they opted to just – “deal with the egg on [their] face.”
In an introductory note at the front of the book, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear praises the KHEAA as “the state’s premier college planning and financial aid publication for high school students.” Phenomenal.
Now it may not be fair to kick a state when it’s down, but if you think it’s somehow wise to spend $52.5 million to retain a basketball coach* who walks around with a cloud of malfeasance hanging over his head, yet not pony up $70k to fix a mistake that robs a department of any amount of credibility when it comes to the ONE THING they exist to do: Help students achieve higher education.
Kentucky continues to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
*Yes, I do realize that athletic departments are rarely ever funded with state money, but it’s UK and I hate them, which make it fair game in my book. Screw them, they’re still dummies.