Sean Spicer hasn’t exactly established himself as a guy who keeps his cool during his first month as the White House press secretary. Rather, he’s the type of guy who runs hot enough to argue with concepts like “facts” and “the truth.”
It’s possible that he’s more reasonable than his televised persona suggests, but if that’s the case, this story certainly isn’t going to support it.
Back when he was a student at Connecticut College, he spearheaded an effort to ban smoking in dining halls according to the Washington Post. At this point in his college career, Spicer was a known quantity on campus, crusading for cable in the dorm rooms and such. It’s hard to imagine who at the campus paper would take to task the champion of such pursuits, but then you remember the champion in question is Sean Spicer and it becomes easier.
Or, as the paper had branded him in 1993, Sean Sphincter. (We were just a year removed from the release of Wayne’s World, so the barb was slightly more pointed than it appears in hindsight.)
Did Sean Sphincter Spicer enjoy the nickname given him? He did NOT.
Because the reporters responsible for his outrage weren’t all gathered in front of his lectern (yet), he wrote a strongly-worded letter to the College Voice, which had declared the name “unintentional.”
“Enhance.”
In the letter, he claims the paper shouldn’t be holding itself to “professional standards” and claims that calling him a butthole isn’t protected speech. It summarily explains 2017 Spicer perfectly.
Should you want to delve further into Sphinctergate (and why WOULDN’T you?), you can read a College Voice piece from February 6th of this year which interviews Spicer’s Freshman year roommate, Dave Bry, following the whole Sphincter thing. The picture it paints can best be described as “consistent.”
TCV: And so would you say he was well-known on campus? Well-liked?
DB: Um, no. Not well-liked. Not like hated. How can I describe Sean Spicer? Because he was kind of an interesting guy. He was very into, like, always having a sense of humor, and funny, and laughing and chatty. And that was something that was, you know, kind of pleasant about him. But he wasn’t so good at it. And he wasn’t very popular, I would say—he was like, he would walk into the room and everyone would kind of go: “Ugh, Spicer.”
Well, if there’s the equivalent of a Patient Zero for the toxic relationship between Sean Spicer and the media, it’s The College Voice.
Nice job, guys. Look what you did.
