Last week, some students received coupons for free chicken patties in their campus mailboxes. They read: “Oops! We ordered too much chicken during break!”

Thinking McKinley’s management distributed the coupons, students took them to the lunch lines last Monday. There, they didn’t last long.

According to Melissa Wybiral, manager of mailing services for the college, the coupons were placed in students’ mailboxes early Monday morning. However, once McKinley’s personnel contacted the mailroom, the coupons were removed from the mailboxes.

“Once we knew it was bogus, we had all of the coupons pulled out by around 9 a.m.,” Wybiral said. “The next day, we found a few more that had been put out again, but by then McKinley’s was completely aware of the situation.”

Considering the fact all student mailboxes are locked, Wybiral was first concerned that the coupons were distributed by someone who worked in the Allegheny mailroom.

“It was my first thought that it could be someone from the inside; however, we figured out that they were being shoved in from the outside,” she said.

According to Wybiral, the coupons were folded and then slipped into the small openings at the bottoms of approximately 200 to 300 student mailboxes.

Soon after McKinley’s personnel learned of the bogus coupons, a sign featuring the coupon was mounted by the cash registers. It read: “Attention: If you have received a copy of this coupon in your mailbox, please be aware that is a prank and is not a valid McKinley’s offer. If you have any information on the source of this coupon please call the Dining Services office at x-6252. Thank You.”

So, who did it? Ron Simko, director of Dining Services, isn’t sure.

“The incident is currently under investigation, so there is nothing additional I can share on this matter,” he wrote in an e-mail to the Campus.

Wybiral said she has an idea. “It could have been connected with the latest protest, but I have no proof and those are just my personal thoughts,” she said.

The latest protest, which accused McKinley’s of hypocrisy in regard to its iced tea prices, was initiated by Jesse Lifton, ’08.

“I think it was a funny joke,” Lifton said in reference to the coupon. “I’m impressed that it worked, though. I’ve been here for three years, and I’ve never seen any coupons for McKinley’s. I’d imagine that if there were going to be any, the management would’ve warned the staff about them.”

The barcode featured on the fake coupon could not be scanned.

At Simko’s request, members of McKinley’s staff refused to comment on the matter.