Letter to the Editor
Joe Jurisic
Dear students of UVU,
First and foremost I would like to sincerely apologize to any student who was or still is offended by any of my tweets. I take full responsibility for all of the tweets mentioned on my Twitter page. Although the inappropriate tweets were lyrics from songs, they were still hurtful to some. I feel as though the tweets do not represent me or anything I stand for, but instead just happened to be the song lyrics I was listening to at the time. And even though I am a huge fan of Nicki Minaj and Alana Davis, some may feel their lyrics are sexist or feminist. I would like to make it very clear I am in no way either of the two.
In my opinion being offended is a personal choice. Many people may often call me offensive things, but it is my choice to be hurt or affected by them. Therefore in most cases I choose to not let it get to me. I would also like to point out that I am a huge fan of women. Most of my best friends are women, my entire Student Life branch is made up of only women (shout out to Cori, Maggie, Hilari, Sammie, Morgan, and Madison), and I love my sisters from the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority.
Additionally, I want to express that Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites are a terrible representation of an individual. How can you determine if you like someone or not through 140 characters? I feel as though that is a terrible way to judge a persons character. If you truly want to get to know me let’s go get coffee (or tea, or water, or whatever), I’ll buy. It is disappointing to me to think that we have become a society that relies on social media in order to figure a person out. Through this we have completely lost the importance of human interaction.
From this I have learned the benefits of having a conversation with an individual instead of a computer screen or an iPhone. I prefer building relationships with people rather than technology. With that, again, if you want to get to know someone go have a conversation with them.
As a result of all of this, with the election going on this past week, I can only hope that my actions didn’t affect your thoughts of any of the candidates running for office. They are all great individuals and would have been incredible as your student body leaders. Please have faith in your officers and express any thought or concerns you may have, that’s what they are here for. Again, I sincerely apologize to anyone who was affected by my tweets. I truly never meant to hurt anyone. I hope you can accept my apology and hope I can get to know more of you for the remainder of my time at UVU.
GO WOLVERINES!!
-Joe Jurisic
When it comes to the student VP of our school, I do not believe i should ever be put in a situation where I have to make the choice not to be offended by something the student VP of our school has said.
Stating that these are only song lyrics does not take responsibility away from the fact that you chose to post them, and then laughed at those posts.
A genuine apology does not make excuses for what you did, but takes full responsibility WITHOUT making excuses.
If you do not want people to judge you based off derogatory statements you post on facebook, then I suggest-you do not post derogatory statements on facebook.
You are in a position of leadership-do you believe that you’re actions were representative of that?
Often times people have a hard time entirely owning up to their behavior. Still, this apology is a start-just remember-BE the person you say you are.
Nobody? No one’s going to bite? Okay, I’ll go.
Concerns about this non-apology and “some of my best friends are women” defense aside, I find it both funny and sad that in a letter apologizing for his sexist remarks, the author confuses feminism with misogyny. Maybe becoming fluent in the vocabulary of equality would make Mr. Jurisic more sensitive to offenses against it.
*she doesn’t even go here
Enjoyed the letter Jurisic. You are the man. Everyone else needs to shut the **** up and get to know this guy.
I believe Joe mentioned the song lyrics to state where they came from, not as an excuse. He didn’t make up those phrases himself, they came from a song he was listening to at the moment. While they were inappropriate and offensive to some, I think that we need to be adults and just move on with life. He apologized, and that’s good enough for me. I’m sure we’ve all said/written things that we regret, nobody is perfect. I know Joe personally, and I know how much effort he put into this apology. He sincerely felt bad that he had offended people. He really is an awesome guy, and it’s unfortunate that the only way people “know him” is through the article previously published. Just so you know… at a UVUSA Student Council meeting on Mar. 8th, he gave a rose to all the women there in honor of International Women’s Day. I don’t believe those tweets reflect the kind of person Joe…
(Continued)… I don’t believe those tweets reflect the kind of person Joe is. Hopefully everyone can move past this! Joe does great things for UVU, and there’s so much more to a person than a few tweets.
I’d like to know how this passes as an apology. Joe doesn’t take responsibility for his offensive tweets, but instead simply says its our own fault for being offended. That’s saying “I’m sorry that you get offended” not “I’m sorry I offended you.” He’s merely added insult to injury.
“some may feel their lyrics are sexist or feminist. I would like to make it very clear I am in no way either of the two.”
There you have it. Joe Jurisic is not a feminist.
Hence, not only is he ignorant of the fact that sexism and feminism are antonyms, he also clearly states that he is not and does not support feminism, which by definition, according to the merriam-webster dictionary is: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. Cool Jurisic, just keep digging yourself deeper. Glad to know you don’t believe in equality for women. Wow you need to resign.
“I take full responsibility for all of the tweets mentioned on my Twitter page” followed up with “In my opinion being offended is a personal choice.” So, what you’re really saying is, I need to pretend to apologize so I don’t look like an complete jerk, but really it’s your fault if you’re offended, not mine. Hmm.
What ever happened to being a role model? People holding Student Administration positions are held to a higher standard because others look up to them. With public office comes public scrutiny, and he should understand that or resign.
The idea that it is a “personal choice” to be offended is absolutely ridiculous, particularly coming from someone who is supposed to be educated. Even neurological science has shown that bullying, harassing, and making derogatory statements has long- term detrimental effects on the human brain. The promotion of any anti- female sentiment is, by definition, sexist. The nonsensical, unapologetic statement intended to quell the controversy can only serve to enflame it in this environment. You are someone who has been trusted with a position of leadership. The fact that you clearly do not take this position seriously, to the extent that you defend your terrible behavior with childish sentiment, makes it very obvious that you should NOT be in this position. I hope, for the sake of the reputation of this University, that you lose that seat immediately.