University hosting Bill Maher gets complaints from parents

My alma mater, George Washington University, plans to host "comedian" Bill Maher for Colonials Weekend, a campus event in the fall hosting students, families and friends. GWU is far from being a bastion of conservative thought and thus it doesn't surprise me a bit that school administrators would welcome someone like Bill Maher with open arms.

But apparently not all GWU parents are happy to hear that Maher will be headlining the family-oriented event. An employee in GWU's Office of Parent Services accidentally forwarded one parent's poignant letter of concern to the entire email listserv from parent services, noting that there have been others. Whoops:

From: GWU Office of Parent Services

Sender: Parents' Association E-mail Newsletter

Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:26:09 -0400

To: [redacted]

ReplyTo: GWU Office of Parent Services

Subject: Fwd: Bill Maher?

Hi Peter,

Here is another email message we received regarding the entertainment for CW.

Leah

Leah Small

Executive Assistant

Office of Parent Services

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Brian [redacted]

Date: Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 10:58 AM

Subject: Bill Maher?

To: "parents@gwu.edu"

Dear Parent Services Staff:

My son will be a sophomore next fall, I attended Colonials Weekend last year and loved it.

The selection of Bill Maher to headline CW shocks me. There aren’t many people I can think of that completely turn me off, but he’s on that short list. I could not help offering my opinion on the selection, it galls me that much. I think it’s important you should get the feedback, thanks for listening.

Keep up the good work and communications, I can’t wait to get up there again for a visit.

Brian [redacted]

Marietta, GA