Student accidentally sends email to 20,000 undergrads at the University of Sheffield

‘I felt awfully embarrassed at first’

| UPDATED

A politics student accidentally emailed 20,000 undergrads at the University of Sheffield, creating a chain of hundreds of emails.

Daniela Cebotari wanted to find out who her personal tutor was and tried to email uni support – but she was met with a shitposting thread, shameless Instagram promotions and a full transcript of the Bee Movie from countless students who were wrongly emailed.

Just four minutes after the fateful email, Daniela said she had 100 students emailing her and had to ask them to stop.

She told The Tab: “It was an honest mistake and before I could realise what I did, my inbox started filling with emails from humoured students.

“I felt awfully embarrassed at first, but people have contacted me on social media to say thank you for brightening up their day.”

Of the hundreds who replied, there were mixed responses. Some students hailed the entertainment, others posted memes and links to Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’.

She continued: “Someone on Twitter told me about a discord server with almost 1,000 people talking, making friends and playing games together.

“This honestly makes me so happy, that my simple mistake could make people laugh and bring them together.”

Daniela went on to say that IT services handled it and students shouldn’t get any more emails. She added: “Please stop emailing me back and adding me on Facebook!” and wished everyone a happy new year.

The University of Sheffield said: “We’re aware that a number of emails were posted to an undergraduate student Google Group earlier today. Our IT Services are investigating what has happened and have taken action to prevent further messages being sent. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

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