Your favorite spot for Kentucky election and social news.
Several students and faculty members reported seeing an effigy of presidential candidate Barack Obama hanging from a tree on campus. UK police are heading up the investigation but the FBI and the Secret Service have also been notified of this incident. People on campus first noticed the effigy hanging outside the Mining and Mineral Resources Building on Rose Street around 8:00 a.m. Wednesday. The effigy was taken down and given to UK campus police. "I am personally offended and deeply embarrassed by this disgusting episode," said UK President Lee Todd in a campus-wide e-mail. "This is not reasonable political expression; it is just malicious. And it is unacceptable." Todd also said the university is apologizing to the senator and his family. "As President of the University of Kentucky, I feel outraged and hurt. I am outraged because we work very hard, every day, to build bridges across the divides," said Todd. Diversity and inclusion are among our most precious core values. Episodes like this serve only to erode our confidence in and respect for one another. Todd said those found responsible will be "subject to the full force of university, state, and federal rules and regulations."