Editor’s note: The Daily Egyptian has opted to print letters to the editor and editorials using the expletive from Alex Kochno’s e-mail as long as it is in context and the nature of the debate is in good taste. Submissions not in good taste will not be reprinted.

What’s the punch line to every joke for those graduating this May?

Alex Kochno.

Advertisement

A few weeks ago, Kochno was probably known as a student with potential. He served as public relations officer for SIUC’s chapter of College Republicans. His graduation date was just a few circles away on the calendar with hopes of promising job interviews probably not far behind.

Kochno is now mostly likely known as the infamous writer of a grammatically flawed, offensive e-mail to a popular feminist Web site, Feministing.com, that claimed men are more intelligent than women.

The site published his letter and easily identified him because Kochno sent the letter from his university e-mail account. The ensuing comment thread flooded. Multiple individuals notified university officials, who suspended his account privileges. Interim Chancellor Sam Goldman even took out an ad for several hundred dollars with the Daily Egyptian Wednesday condemning Kochno’s actions.

The university might have had good intentions by letting its thoughts on the matter be known, but we think it was a knee-jerk reaction.

What Kochno said was in poor taste, to say the absolute least. Included in his message was a hateful insult – a derogatory, four-letter term of a female body part – directed toward the woman whose post sparked his opinion.

If you think reading the word “cunt” makes you uncomfortable, imagine what it feels like for a woman to be called one.

Kochno used the term in a degrading and misogynistic way that lends more potential to the reprehensible acts against women already occurring each day. Think rape, sexual assault and domestic battery. Type that word in a Google search, and you have pornography.

Advertisement*

Kochno’s ineptitude is also worth noting. His job description was defined by having a sense of media literacy. As a public relations officer, he probably should have realized that insulting a bunch of feminists wouldn’t really relate well to the public.

However, if the university takes judicial action against Kochno, it would head into some dangerous territory. An environment such as a university campus inherently fosters extreme attitudes.

In other words, unpopular opinions are nonetheless still opinions. If there’s anything positive about this situation, it’s that Kochno has reminded us of that. He just chose to do so in a very crude way.

If he hadn’t used his school e-mail address, his view might have just become another one of the many that exists under the shield of anonymity provided by today’s online culture. One might have skimmed over it and simply moved on.

But a Google search for “Alex Kochno” now associates him with the incident for at least the first two pages.

In today’s world, that’s like naming your next 10 generations worth of children “Don’t Hire Me.”

We think it’s safe to say he has done a fine job punishing himself.