Last week, UT Journalism students, professors, and alumni got a late gift in their Christmas stocking: a Twitter follow from Anthony Scaramucci. Confused? Yes, we mean the Mooch – the New York City wiseguy who took a cup of coffee over the summer as communications director in the White House.

Texas Student Television Associate News Director Sean Dolan tweeted a screenshot of Scaramucci’s account on Jan. 2, showing him as a follower and asking, understandably, for an explanation, which never came. Undergraduates, Ph.D. students, and even yours truly all got followed.

Wanda Cash, recently retired associate director of the journalism program, tagged Scaramucci directly the next day, hoping to get an explanation for the follow-spree. No response. After hours of silence, she wrote again, cheerfully thanking him “for the Follow.” You aren’t a part of Longhorn Twitter until Cash sends you a welcome message.

It’s still unclear what provoked Scaramucci’s interest in UT journalism, since he secured a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University (in Massachusetts) before trekking a few miles south to Harvard Law School. Could he be making a surprise comeback as the most famous adjunct UT has seen since Matthew McConaughey? We shall see.

This article appears in January 5 • 2018.

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