Governor's Officer on reasons for Jerry Foxhoven resignation: 'Tupac was not one of them'
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Thursday through a spokesman that the resignation of former Iowa Department of Human Services Director Jerry Foxhoven had nothing to do with his apparent obsession with the late rapper Tupac Shakur.
“As the Governor has said, a lot of factors contributed to the resignation of Jerry Foxhoven and now Gov. Reynolds is looking forward to taking DHS in a new direction. Of course Tupac was not one of them.” -Pat Garrett, governor's office spokesman.
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A report by the Associated Press uncovered hundreds of emails about rapper Tupac Shakur sent to employees by former Iowa Department of Human Services Director Jerry Foxhoven.
On Tuesday, KCCI obtained documents from the AP detailing how often Foxhoven discussed the rapper in the workplace.
While some employees praised former director Foxhoven's fixation on Tupac, one complained to lawmakers last year.
According to the documents, Foxhoven sent 350 pages worth of emails that included the word “Tupac.”
During his time with Iowa DHS, Foxhoven sent emails to mark the anniversary of the rapper's death and shared Tupac's lyrics on Valentine's Day. Foxhoven also brought Tupac-themed cookies to work to celebrate his own 65th birthday.
"It was well known among Drake students and staff that he was a fan of Tupac,” former Drake University law student Josh Opperman said.
Opperman said he attended Drake University’s law program while Foxhoven ran the school’s legal clinic.
He is also a former employee at the Central Iowa Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.
Opperman said Foxhoven's behavior does not strike him as inappropriate.
"Well, I highly doubt this is the reason he was asked to resign,” he said.
The AP report does raise some eyebrows about Foxhoven’s love of Tupac and his resignation from the department.
On June 14, Foxhoven sent an email to all 4,300 employees of Iowa DHS "telling employees to mark Shakur's birthday over the weekend."
The following Monday, Gov. Kim Reynolds forced him to resign.
Reynolds told KCCI in June that “a lot of factors” led to her asking Foxhoven to leave the department.
“I'm not going to get into them right now,” Reynolds said in June.
"You know, that, 'there are many reasons' excuse is just that a lot of the times -- an excuse,” Opperman said.
An Iowa DHS employee told KCCI, "Tupac was a controversial figure, and I appreciated that Jerry didn't let that deter him from spreading the positive messages in his lyrics. I truly don't believe the Tupac thing had anything to do with Jerry's departure."