Cornell Sun Accidentally Publishes Vulgarity in Final Issue

A vulgar term for the female genitalia appeared late last week on the front page of The Cornell Daily Sun.

An unknown prankster inserted the profane word into the paper's final issue of the semester during an end-of-the-year party held in the Sun's offices. It slipped through because editors had already vetted all stories and page layouts.

The term changed the job title of a Cornell University administrator, making him "the Senior Associate Dean of the College of Arts and C--."

In a note of apology posted online, the paper's editor-in-chief explained, "The paper was vandalized Thursday night as the Sun celebrated its last night of publication for the semester. About 150 people gathered at our offices during this particular occasion... Like a normal night at the Sun, the computers on which we design the pages of our paper were left unattended for brief instances. During one of these instances, someone added the word to the page."

Separately, on IvyGate, an anonymous tipster shared, "While LNoP [Last Night of Publication] was at one time mostly an occasion celebrated almost exclusively by Sun staffers, in recent years it's become more of a thing. (Pretty sure the Cornell basketball team showed up my senior year.) Per computer security: There is absolutely none. Anyone could have stealthily added said C-word onto the page when no one was looking. And there would have been ample opportunity to do so. My guess is it probably wasn't a Sun staffer, but, rather, a Sun staffer's friend who came to enjoy the festivities."