An OU law student played a controversial April Fools’ joke Monday when he placed a personalized letter printed with the official OU seal in the personal mailboxes of each OU Law School student.

The letter was written by Jason May, law student and candidate for Student Bar Association president. May said because of the ongoing election, he felt it was inappropriate to comment.

The letter began, “I regret to inform you that you have been reported to my office by one of your classmates as a violator of the College of Law’s Honor Code.”

Ironically, May is now in violation of that same honor code for the prank.

May signed the letter as the “Dean of Jocularity,” and suggested each student could come by his office, “room 4302,” to learn their rights during the investigative process. There is no room 4302 in the law school, which only has three floors.

The letter also encourages students to consider voting for him for SBA president.

Blake Lynch, second-year law student, said students generally thought the letter was funny.

“The rumor mill around school was that a professor actually asked his class if Jason was present, because he wanted to congratulate him on a well-done joke,” he said.

Not everyone got the joke. A handful of students contacted OU Student Services about the letter. According to an e-mail from an SBA officer, some students called crying and another had vomited when they learned their law careers may be in jeopardy.

The SBA held a hearing Monday night to review May’s campaign activities. It recommended, but could not enforce, that he write a general apology to all students, be removed from the ballot of SBA president, and be barred from holding any student office.

Ryan Owens, current SBA president and May’s former high school classmate, said the hearing committee unanimously recommended the penalties. He said some of the upset students did not attend the hearing out of embarrassment, but that the hearing was open to all students.

“We stood up for the students who could not stand up for themselves,” he said.

When Owens voted for SBA president Tuesday, he said May’s name was still on the ballot.

Both Lynch and Owens said  expulsion or suspension from the law school is a possibility. If May is suspended, all his course work will be void and he will have to retake his classes.

“Missing out the remainder of the semester would be bad,” Lynch said. “If he was expelled or suspended, it would derail his graduation. It would be on his resume, and transferring to another school would be difficult.”