Eastern Michigan University Accidentally Kicks Out 7,700 Students

By Samantha Abernethy in News on May 8, 2012 9:40PM

Administrators at Eastern Michigan University meant to send an email to about 100 students informing them they'd be kicked out for poor grades. Instead the email was delivered to 7,700 students and recent graduates, about a third of the student body.

"As a result of your Winter 2012 academic performance, you have been dismissed from Eastern Michigan University," the email read.

The school caught the mistake as it was happening and was immediately flooded with emails. One student told AnnArbor.com she was "devastated" and many of the students who received the email were "actually on the Dean's List."

The real tragedy here is for the 133 students who were really kicked out. They had to have their hearts broken twice as they were sent additional emails and hard-copy letters to inform them it wasn't a mistake.

EMU administrators were quick to issue an apology to all of the students, saying it was not because of hacking, but rather because of an error by at outside company in charge of sending the automatic emails. The school is reassessing the program.