A 66-year-old who enjoyed hosting ‘Tupac Fridays’ at work handed in his resignation after emailing the rapper’s lyrics to over 4,000 employees.
Most people accept everyone has their own music taste but Jerry Foxhoven, the former director of Iowa’s Department of Human Services, was clearly adamant on trying to get everyone to love Tupac like he did.
I mean, most people enjoy talking about their favourite artists but there’s quite a big jump between recommending the occasional song to someone with a similar taste and bombarding 4,300 people with Tupac lyrics. Though I suppose you can’t blame him for trying.
Foxhoven resigned abruptly last month after sending the passionate email which reminded everyone that Tupac’s birthday was coming up, though the email was far from the first Tupac-related message Foxhoven had sent to his entire mailing list.
Emails obtained by The Associated Press showed the 66-year-old routinely sent messages to employees lauding Tupac’s music and lyrics and although some praised Foxhoven for using the rapper to bring some inspiration into the workplace, there was at least one person who complained.
The publication obtained 350 pages of emails with the words ‘Tupac’ or ‘2Pac’ sent to and from Foxhoven during his two-year tenure, in which the fan explained he was inspired by Tupac’s lyrics, which included ‘It’s time for us as a people to start makin’ some changes.’
In the emails Foxhoven marked the anniversary of Tupac’s death, shared one of his lyrics about love on Valentine’s Day and used the rapper’s image to try to improve the agency’s culture.
Every week, the former director would host ‘Tupac Fridays’ and play his music in the office. He traded lyrics with employees and even marked his 65th birthday with Tupac-themed cookies, some of which were decorated with the words ‘thug life.’
However, it’s suspected he took things a little too far last month when he told 4,300 employees to mark Tupac’s birthday by listening to one of his songs.
The following work day state governer Kim Reynolds told Foxhoven to resign, though a spokesman for the governor would neither confirm nor deny whether the email played a part in her request for his resignation.
The spokesperson said:
As the governor has said, a lot of factors contributed to the resignation of Jerry Foxhoven and now Gov. Reynolds is looking forward to taking DHS in a new direction.
Associated Press report Foxhoven said he believed Reynolds had made the decision to ‘go in a different direction’ before he sent the mass email. The 66-year-old explained he wasn’t given a reason for the resignation request but he doubted his love for Tupac was a factor.
Foxhoven could always embark on a new career as some sort of Tupac-related motivational speaker – he’s certainly had enough practise!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.