Yesterday, I was at the center of a Kardashian level scandal. I said something on-air that apparently upset a few people. GASP! Gavin, what did you say? Did you make a joke about race, religion, or someone's sexual orientation? No, I did something much worse: I made a joke about the University of Southern Indiana. You know, the school I went to.

I did a blog yesterday about the arrival of Chick-Fil-A and Steak n' Shake at USI. I also talked about the story on-air and made a joke at the expense of USI. My joke was "Chick-Fil-A and Steak n' Shake are opening at USI in the Fall. Were their grades not good enough to get into UE?" That's it. That's the joke. I even said on-air that the joke was stupid and that "I'd get some phone calls about that one." I made the joke, turned off my mic, and went about the rest of my day.

As I was getting ready to leave for the day, the Facebook post linking to the blog post had a few comments on it saying that I had offended this person or that person and that they'd never listen again. Back in November, I addressed the issue of everyone being offended about everything. This seemed to be on of those cases. Basically, I was being accused of insinuating that everyone who went to USI went there as a second-choice or couldn't get into a better school. I can understand how that parallel could be drawn but at the same time I WENT TO THE SCHOOL I WAS MAKING A JOKE ABOUT! If that's the case, I was also making fun of myself and most of the staff who work in this building (they loved the joke btw).

It was a softball of a joke meant to poke fun at the stereotype of USI not being as good or whatever. My only mistake was not following up with a joke at UE's expense. If someone wants to get bent out of shape over a joke that many people make (USI is sometimes referred to as "West Side High"), then you might as well lock yourself in whatever safe space Tumblr world you live in and never leave.

I love USI. Some of the best times of my life were had on that campus. My best friends that I still have were ones that I met at USI. USI is a fantastic school and their radio program is what helped me get the job that I currently have. However, that's not going to stop me from making a joke when my job is to be entertaining. If you don't like the joke, that's fine. I don't like jokes sometimes. But to call into question my professionalism or say that I hate USI is absolutely ridiculous.

To further the proof that I actually do love USI, here is a photo of myself lovingly holding my diploma.

Diploma 1
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And if you thought i just borrowed that from someone, here's the actual diploma (I blacked out my name to spare you the embarrassment of trying to steal my identity and realizing I'm super poor).

Diploma 2
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There you have it. I'm a proud USI alumni and owe everything I have to my education there. However, to truly to be able to joke about something, you have to love it. And I love USI. Also, please don't mistake this post as an apology. Apologizing for offending someone when what was said wasn't offensive is something  I never learned. Maybe I should've gone to UE.

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