Friday Inbox: Who’s sorry now? Ohio State president regrets ‘Polish Army’ comment

The president of Ohio State University apologized Friday for comparing the problem of coordinating the school’s many divisions to the Polish army, an off-the-cuff remark that a Polish-American group called a “slanderous” display of bigotry and ignorance.

“As you might know, I made those ill-chosen remarks during a question-and-answer session after delivering a speech,” Gordon Gee said in an apology emailed to a spokeswoman for the Polish American Congress. “I realized at the time that I had made a mistake.”

The Original comment:

“When we had these 18 colleges all kind of floating around, they were kind of like PT Boats, they were shooting each other,” Gee said. “It was kind of like the Polish army or something. I have no idea what it was.”

The comment drew a scornful statement from the Chicago-based Polish American Congress, which says on its website that it represents at least 10 million Americans of Polish descent and origin. [NBCSports]

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