The University of Pennsylvania has launched an investigation following reports that several individuals in its community received a “highly offensive and hurtful message” that appeared to originate from the institution. The controversial email, dispatched on Friday morning, was made to look as though it was issued by the Graduate School of Education, complete with official letterhead.

The email’s subject line, as shared by Fox News Digital, read, “We got hacked.” This misleading message urged recipients to cease financial contributions to the university, describing the institution in derogatory terms as an “elitist establishment filled with woke radicals.”

The content of the email accused the university of having poor security protocols and lacking meritocracy. It further criticized the school’s admission and hiring practices, claiming they favored legacies, donors, and unqualified affirmative action candidates.

In response, a representative from the University of Pennsylvania confirmed to Fox News Digital that the emails were clearly fraudulent and deeply offensive. The university is actively working to trace the source of this deceptive communication.

The University of Pennsylvania is investigating the origin of a fraudulent email sent to members of its campus community. (Fox News Digital)

A Penn spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the emails were “obviously” fake and “highly offensive.”

“A fraudulent email has been circulated that appears to come from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. This is obviously a fake, and nothing in the highly offensive, hurtful message reflects the mission or actions of Penn or of Penn GSE. The University’s Office of Information Security is aware of the situation, and our Incident Response team is actively addressing it,” a Penn spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

The university reportedly told KYW-TV that it was not hacked but was looking into the source of the crass message. The spokesperson did not immediately address the hacking allegation when reached by Fox News Digital.

The university put out a similar statement on Facebook in which it acknowledged emails and said the issue was being addressed. 

“Fraudulent emails are currently being circulated that appear to come from a Penn Graduate School of Education account with the subject ‘We got hacked (Action Required)’ or similar,” the university wrote on Facebook. “The University’s Office of Information Security is aware of the situation, and our Incident Response team is actively addressing it.”

A sign for the University of Pennsylvania on campus on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023.  (Michelle Gustafson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“All of the emails are incredibly offensive and in no way reflective of Penn or Penn GSE’s mission or values. We sincerely apologize for the harm this has caused and is causing. Over and above the inconvenience of getting your inboxes spammed, these emails are hurtful and upsetting,” the university wrote on Facebook.

Elizabeth Cooper, the school’s IT help desk manager, also addressed the message in an email sent to members of Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication, The Daily Pennsylvanian, a University of Pennsylvania student newspaper,reported.

People walk by a sign reading “Penn Commons” at the University of Pennsylvania. (Michelle Gustafson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“These emails are being received by individuals outside of UPenn as well,” Cooper wrote. “It appears that some email list, which is beyond our control, was accessed by malicious individuals who then sent out these messages.”

The Daily Pennsylvanian noted that the Penn Medicine Academic Computing Services and the School of Nursing’s IT services also sent out messages acknowledging the offensive email.