Via Wikimedia CommonsSomeone hacked into the University of Pennsylvania's email system to send a fake email to Wharton Business School undergraduates announcing a new community service requirement - of one hour a semester.
Student blog Under The Button posted the fake email, which went out to undergrads on Monday evening. There is currently no community service requirement for Wharton, which is known as one of the top and most competitive business schools in the country.
It's not clear how exactly the pranksters gained access to Wharton's undergraduate listserve, but to their credit, the hoax email looks pretty believable. Here's how it announced the supposed new requirement:
The new "Wharton SERVES" program facilitates undergraduates engaging with the world through community service in partnership with SERVE Philadelphia. Community involvement has always been a cornerstone of Wharton's values: from Joseph Wharton's philanthropic undertakings to the more recent launch of the Social Impact Initiative. The Wharton SERVES program is the next step in that legacy.
Starting this Spring, all Wharton undergraduates are required to engage in 1 hour of one of the following endorsed community service projects (or to propose an alternative, explained below). The endorsed projects have been selected both because of their importance to the communities they serve, and because they will facilitate undergraduates working together.
The UPenn administration was quick to deny the alleged program, with an email, as Under The Button describes it, "reminding students that Wharton would NEVER do such a thing." The email was sent by Lee Kramer, Wharton's director of undergraduate student life, who writes, "Last night, many of you receieved an email about a 'new Wharton Undergrad Community Service Requirement.' This email is a hoax. The program described in the email is not a real Wharton program."
Kramer also said that the email is being investigated by Wharton Computing and Penn's Office of Information Security.
Here's the original email, via Under The Button:
Here's the full text of the Wharton email:
Dear Wharton Undergraduates,
We are pleased to introduce an exciting new requirement as part of your educational experience at Wharton starting for the 2015 Spring semester.
The new "Wharton SERVES" program facilitates undergraduates engaging with the world through community service in partnership with SERVE Philadelphia. Community involvement has always been a cornerstone of Wharton's values: from Joseph Wharton's philanthropic undertakings to the more recent launch of the Social Impact Initiative. The Wharton SERVES program is the next step in that legacy.
Starting this Spring, all Wharton undergraduates are required to engage in 1 hour of one of the following endorsed community service projects (or to propose an alternative, explained below). The endorsed projects have been selected both because of their importance to the communities they serve, and because they will facilitate undergraduates working together.
We're pleased to announce the endorsed projects for Spring 2015 are:
- Hunger & Homelessness: Sunday Supper Volunteer
Education & Youth: Become an Adult Literacy Mentor- Education & Youth: Lead a Writing Workshop for Youths
- Skills Based: Teach Senior Citizens How to Use Computers
- Sustainability: Volunteer in Morris Park
Upon completing your project, fill out this form and submit it by email to [redacted]. If you'd like to submit an alternative project, please include in the email contact information for the supervisor who signs your form. You will receive a confirmation email, upon submitting your form to let you know that you have been marked down as satisfying the requirement.
This is our first year so we're going to take this one step at a time. Any feedback is welcome. We look forward to engaging!
Best regards,
Wharton Community Projects Committee