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    Hometown Glory

    Culture war at Kinkaid? E-mail firestorm goes viral

    Sarah Rufca
    Dec 5, 2009 | 7:00 am
    • The new Texas Monthly article goes beyond the infamous Hugh "Skip" McGee e-mail.

    What started as a viral e-mail among The Kinkaid School's students, parents, and alums has thrust the elite academy into the center of a heated coast-to-coast debate on the blogsophere.

    It all started when the proverbial "football-players-dress-up-as-cheerleaders-and-make-asses-of-themselves" skit at the pep rally was pulled at the last minute due to concerns about "negative gender stereotyping."

    This was the final straw for Hugh "Skip" McGee III, head of investment banking for Barclay's (with a rumored $25 million a year salary), who sent a scathing five-page missive to the Kinkaid board of directors. Pop culture and media über-blog Gawker describes it as "bullet-pointed explanation of the new white man's burden: Getting subversives fired from your kid's prep school. His rationale includes 'the parent whisper circuit,' 'a gay female coach,' and the time a 'leftist' teacher made his son cry."

    Those who love bloated trainwrecks can view the email online, but we prefer the Kinkaid student-penned spoof that is making the rounds and is sure to be posted somewhere on the Internet soon.

    The fallout, according to Kinkaid insiders and Gawker? The aforementioned teacher has been fired, the future is grim for the offending principal, and all diversity events planned are on hold. Several activities relating to The Laramie Project (a play about the murder of Matthew Shepard) have been shelved and a school-wide reading of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax has been cancelled.

    Reaction? Meet overreaction.

    We are perfectly happy to let Kinkaid sort out their diversity issues on their own (our sources say it's far more of a gray, complex issue than Gawker makes it out to be), but this combination of money, power, and a culture war in a Houston prep school was a surefire recipe to go viral.

    It's interesting to note that it's the second Houston high school scandal to make national news this fall, after Memorial High School students made a totally gross and misogynist shirt to represent their rivalry with Stratford and were called out by fellow students and the blogosphere.

    It looks like the culture war isn't just red state/blue state anymore. While it does lend a bit of scandal and notoriety to our city, at least we have people on both sides of the issues having discussions, however, ahem, interesting, some of those opinions might be.

    We're just glad the politics of high school are behind us.

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    Eloise Nichols interior
    Photo by Alex Montoya
    Eloise Nichols has updated its interior.

    Editor's note: It's time to look back at the top Houston news of the week, which is full of restaurant and bar tidbits. Two Houston-area chefs get big victories, while a River Oaks restaurant says goodbye. Get the details on our most popular stories below, then visit this guide for some weekend fun.

    1. Casual River Oaks restaurant will shutter after 10 years. A neighborhood restaurant near River Oaks will soon serve its last meal — for now. Eloise Nichols is set to close after service on Sunday, June 29.

    2. Houston chef Tristen Epps dishes on his Top Chef victory — and what's next. For the first time, Houston is home to a Top Chef winner. In the final episode of season 22, chef Tristen Epps earned the title and a $250,000 cash prize.

    3. Intimate Houston cocktail lounge adds European-inspired outdoor patio. There’s a new al fresco destination for Houstonians this summer. Clarkwood, the chic cocktail bar in Montrose, has expanded with a 1,500-square-foot courtyard bar.

    4. Innovative Houston chef is the city's newest James Beard Award winner. Thomas Bille, chef-owner of Belly of the Beast in Spring, was named Best Chef: Texas at the 2025 James Beard Awards ceremony.

    James Beard Awards 2025 Thomas Bille Belly of the BeastThomas Bille is Houston's newest James Beard Award winner. Photo by Getty Images for James Beard Foundation

    5. Houston farmers market adds new indoor pickleball court with food and cocktails. The newest player in the city’s crowded pickleball court is Drop Shots HTX, opening today, June 21.

    most popular storiesclosingspickleballjames beard awardstop chefhot-headlines
    news/city-life

    most read posts

    Innovative Houston chef is the city's newest James Beard Award winner

    Houston farmers market adds new indoor pickleball court with food and cocktails

    Houston company ranks No. 13 worldwide on new Forbes Global 2000 list

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