UPDATE -- 8am 1/23/18: I've received the following statement from UNO (and I have asked whether there will be a statement as to how wise it was for Mr. Ogden to issue a response like that from his UNO email account) ...
Hi Scott,
Dave Ogden is retired and has been since August 2017. In his response to the request from the Congressional Leadership Fund, he was speaking as a private citizen and not on behalf of the university.
As I mentioned to you, the Congressional Leadership Fund is one of 100+ groups registered to participate in the UNO career fair on March 1st, 2018, and the group has utilized our “Career Connect” system to post internship opportunities with UNO students in the past. Of course, that option continues to be available to the Congressional Leadership Fund as internships become available.
Thanks, Scott, for giving us the chance to share this information.
Best,
Erin Owen
Executive Director, UNO University Communications
UPDATE -- 5pm 1/22/18: The University confirms that Mr. Ogden is retired, and no longer teaches at UNO. While he replied to the student via his "unomaha.edu" email account, the professor emeritus tells the university communications department he intended the response as his own personal feelings, and not an official response from any university department.
I should have an official statement from UNO on this matter by tomorrow morning at 9:06am, when I'll be back on the radio talking about it.
The e-mail give-and-take below was forwarded to me by a 3rd party. I have asked the professor via e-mail and Facebook for verification, but haven’t received a response.
I have also reached out to the UNO Chancellor and Communications Dept, as well as the University President and two members of the Nebraska Board of Regents. I also asked Rep. Steve King's office for a statement. Any responses I receive will be posted here.
My question: "Does the University or University System have a response to the way this UNO professor replied to this young man’s e-mail?"
My viewpoint: Of course the professor is entitled to his own political persuasions. But putting his own politics ahead of the career aspirations of any conservative student in his classes, and responding to this sincere request in such an ugly way, seems to me to be self-centered and classless.
(And only a few months after THIS INCIDENT at UNL!)
CLICK HERE for this morning's conversation about this on the radio.
Here is the e-mail (the professor's response follows):
Hello Prof. Ogden,
My name is Stephen and I am the District Director for the Congressional Leadership Fund, an organization based out of D.C. dedicated to supporting Republican candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives. I wanted to reach out to you today to let you know that we have an incredibly unique internship opportunity in the area open to college aged students interested in politics. I am very excited to provide young adults a chance to get involved in the extraordinary political processes of our country, especially because I am a native to Omaha, NE that got my own start over 10 years ago in high school, and cannot wait to bring up the next team of rock stars! :)
With so many topics headlining today’s political conversation, it’s critical for millennials to make their voices heard, and what a perfect way to do so by earning service hours and or college credit while doing so. One of the main goals of our internship program is setting them up for success not only now, but looking ahead as well, and past interns have found the program to be particularly helpful in enhancing their resumes for future political endeavors. In my experience, students have parlayed time on a campaign into positions with state government, as well as on Capitol Hill, and with this being Speaker Ryan’s program, it’s very likely!
I’m sure you are busy, but I was hoping you could pass the attached flier along to your students either by printing off hard copies or by email, either works well, and I’d be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have beforehand. And if you do forward this information along, I would really appreciate you letting me know so I can thank you properly. It would be so great to have some applicants come from the great institution of UNO, that I myself am an alumnus! I appreciate this so much, and if you would like to get a feel of just who we are, please read the tremendous TIME article written about our team (I’m in the blue sweater haha) just below, and I definitely look forward to hearing from you soon!
From: Dave Ogden
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2018 1:34:31 PM
Subject: Re: Internship Opportunity
Thank you for your e-mail, but I would never encourage students to work with an organization that supports an alleged pedophile, that is spineless when it comes to standing up to Mr. Trump's indecencies, and that supports a white supremacist and neo-Nazi (i.e. Steve King). Indeed, I would discourage students from joining such an organization.
David C. Ogden, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus