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When some Missouri State students open their mailboxes Tuesday, they could find a packet that university officials say appears to be from the school but isn’t. MSU officials say the packet is not from the university nor was it authorized by the university. KSMU’s Kristian Kriner reports.
MSU officials say some students might receive a packet, from a company called “Student Welcome Packet,” that includes information about adjusting to college life.
Don Simpson is the associate vice president for enrollment services at Missouri State.
He says it would be easy to mistake the packet for an official university mailing.
“The company that sent it to these students certainly made it appear as if it were coming from Missouri State University. It even includes a newspaper that is made to look like a Missouri State newspaper with articles about the university and quotes from university officials. But, it was not prepared by the university. It was not sanctioned by the university. In fact, we knew nothing about it,” Simpson said.
Simpson says the company that sent the packets contacted the university in May to ask for students’ names and addresses, but university officials refused to give out the information.
He says the company instead obtained the students’ contact information from a company called “American Student Lists,” which is not connected with MSU.
He says some of the students who received the packets weren’t even Missouri State students, so the information wasn’t completely accurate.
The packet came to the university’s attention in part because of the material it contained.
“It had a number of advertisements from a number of companies. Some national, some local. It included an advertisement from Planned Parenthood with a contraceptive attached to it, which caused some concern for some of the people that received it,” Simpson said.
Simpson says the legal office at the university is looking into what actions should be taken against the company that sent out the packets.
KSMU could not locate contact information for the company that the university cited as the source of the mailing.
For KSMU News, I’m Kristian Kriner.
