ESPN TV anchor Keith Olbermann got into a heated exchange on Twitter about Penn State University. After putting the state school on his “World’s Worst in Sports” list, PSU students and alum tweeted to him with the school’s accomplishments including a THON charity event that raised $13 million for pediatric cancer research. Olbermann held his ground/disdain and tweeted back “PSU students are pitiful.” Some students and alum assumed his “pitiful” comment was directed at their fundraising efforts, which prompted Olbermann to tweet: “I’d like to thank the students and alums of Penn State for proving my point about the mediocrity of their education and ethics.” Olbermann has since apologized and been suspended by ESPN for one week.
What’s behind Olbermann’s disdain for Penn State? Maybe it’s just not his kind of place? Olbermann has enjoyed a very privileged, expensive private school education. As a child, he attended the prestigious, private Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York (current tuition is $39,900/year), and then at the age of 16 enrolled at the Ivy League’s Cornell University (current tuition is $47,050/year). Tuition at Penn State, for state residents, is $16,500. P.S. Olbermann earned a BS in Communication.
