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University of Kentucky trolled for accidentally sending 500K acceptance emails: 'McConnell looking for another term?'

The university blamed a technical issue for sending the 500,000 letters by mistake to high school seniors, many of whom never even applied

As many as 500,000 students were in for a surprise when they opened their mailboxes on March 15. They had all received acceptance letters from the University of Kentucky (UK), even though many of them hadn't applied. The email read, "we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the selective Clinical and Management program in the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences for the Fall 2021". This clearly was a mistake and Twitter soon started to make jokes about it. Interestingly, Senator Mitch McConnell was dragged into the jokes.

The program named in the email is a highly selective one, that reportedly only has around 35-40 students each year. The gaffe was blamed on a technical error by the University, which has now sent out emails apologizing for the error. It's unclear how exactly the error occurred, but spokesman Jay Blanton blamed the school's CRM tool. In an interview with Lex 18, he said, "the student could have indicated they were interested in UK at some point or they may have sent an application. There are a number of ways we would have their contact information."

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Blanton added, "only a handful of those on the prospect list had been admitted to UK. The vast majority had not, nor had the vast majority of these students expressed an interest in the program". Students who spoke to Lex 18 confirmed that many of them hadn't ever applied to UK, and in one case, had never even heard of the university. "I had to google it just to make sure it was a real college because, like, I've heard of them. But I'm not so sure," Erin Esping, a senior from Georgia told the publication.

As news of the error reached social media, many started trolling the university. "Has the university of Kentucky ever sent a rejection letter?" asked one user. Another replied to the news with the tweet "Kentucky Failed Checkin".

Another person tweeted, "Whoops: University Of Kentucky Mistakenly Sends 500,000 Acceptances Letters In their defense, UK is a Southern University." Another trolled, "the new GI Bill is just "everyone goes to the University of Kentucky"."

Reminding everyone of the pandemic, another said, "The good news is, they don't have to attend the University of Kentucky." To that, another said, "I mean in Zoom U class size is only limited by your imagination."

Senator Mitch McConnell was part of some jokes. One person asked, "McConnell looking for another term??"

"Oh Kentucky...earning their 45th place ranking in education," another person joked. One more said, "Being vaccinated doesn't mean you can invite a half a million freshmen to the University of Kentucky."

The College of Health Sciences is located at the University's Lexington campus. It has both undergraduate and postgraduate programs in areas like physical therapy, clinical management, nutrition, and athletic training.