A controversial e-mail sent last Wednesday to more than 250 members of the Boston Area Club, a Georgetown student group, has sparked furor among some members of GU Pride, the gay and lesbian rights advocacy group on campus.

The e-mail contained an on-field picture of two New York Yankees bent over one another, with the file name suggesting the players were engaged in sodomy, and the picture was a reason to hate the Yankees, the e-mail said.

No disciplinary action has been taken against either the club or Ted Harrington (COL ’05), the student who sent the e-mail. Harrington sent out an apology within an hour of sending the original e-mail.

“The email with the picture of [Derek] Jeter and [Roger] Clemens was intended in jest, in the spirit of a storied and bitter rivalry,” Harrington said. “There was absolutely no malicious intent, and I regret that it has been perceived that way and has caused some good people a great amount of harm.”

Harrington said that when he sent the e-mail, offending people was the “farthest thing from my intentions.”

“In retrospect, however, it is now exceedingly clear to me why this picture is offensive to some people, and I feel horrible that I could have unwittingly created such a reaction of hurt,” he said.

Harrington said that although he has not met with any students yet, he has responded individually to each student who has contacted him about the e-mail.

GU Pride member Marco Asencao (COL ’05) said he was furious to see the e-mail sent through a SAC club’s list-serve.

“It would be one thing for the individual to send this picture to a few of his friends, but it’s quite another for him to do it using university resources,” Asencao said. “This was my money, through the SAC fee, theoretically being spent to send a homophobic message to the members of the club or those who signed up for the e-mail list during SAC fair, some of whom – and I’m not the only one – are gay.”

“Chuck [Vansant, interim coordinator for LGBTQ issues,] and I take this seriously,” Todd Olson, interim vice president for student affairs, said. “But there is reason to believe that the student who sent this message regrets that he did so and didn’t intend to hurt anybody.”

VanSant and Harrington both said that their meeting went well.

“After having met me personally, he was able to see firsthand that hurting people was the absolute last thing I intended, and I am genuinely sorry for acting in a way that misrepresented myself, my club and the values that I cherish,” Harrison said.

VanSant described Harrington as “very remorseful,” adding that he hopes to work on collaborative efforts between the Boston Area Club and GU Pride.

Asencao said he is satisfied with the university’s response.

“I think the university’s reaction – from what I know – has thus far been appropriate,” he said. “I do not expect the student who sent the e-mail to be disciplined but I do hope someone . explains to him that using university resources, through the intermediary of a student club . to send such a virulently homophobic message is unacceptable.”

One student felt the e-mail violated the university policy.

“That e-mail went against all university principles and policies of non-discrimination and the spirit of diversity that inspires us,” Vanesa Casanova-Fernandez (GRD ’04) said.

“Disciplining one student – no matter how direct the offense – will not solve the problem of homophobia on campus,” Casanova-Fernandez said.

Instead, Casanova-Fernandez said she hoped to see increased visibility of LGBTQ issues on campus.

SAC Commissioner Luis Torres (COL ’05), who is involved in GU Pride, said that he was “very upset and disappointed” with the e-mail.

Torres said he hoped that the incident would lead to more constructive programming between the Boston Area Club and GU Pride. Torres and Casanova-Fernandez both said that they hoped that Harrington would offer a public apology to GU Pride and the Boston Area Club.

Torres said that SAC has tried to leave greater discretion to clubs and their e-mail lists, but that incidents such as these may warrant increased oversight.

“Perhaps SAC could encourage clubs to designate an e-mail facilitator who would manage the flow of official club e-mails so as to ensure that the content does not violate the spirit of our university’s ethos or contain messages that are counterproductive to the aims of the group,” he said.