UM Students Are Assured President Mary Sue Coleman Wasn't Hammered

A University of Michigan statement Monday morning is certainly not an assurance heard often about a college president:

"“She, absolutely, had not been drinking alcohol,” University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald wrote in a statement. “I want to underscore that point in the strongest possible way.”

"It was an unfortunate set of circumstances that led to the audio distortion,” a UM statement says. So we assume that's just straight orange juice in her glass.

That reply to The Michigan Daily student paper follows heavy online buzz wondering why Mary Sue Coleman sounded odd during a halftime football game presentation Saturday. 

"She sounds HAMMERED," Timony Burke posted Sunday night at Deadspin.

A 49-second video (below) showing parts of Coleman’s speech went on YouTube Sunday evening and reached 87,000 views by late morning passed 100,000 171,000 views by early late afternoon Monday after The Daily, The Detroit News Deadspin and sports blogs shared it.

Austen Hufford gives this background in the campus daily:

In reaction to her slow, elongated speech, many people wondered aloud on Facebook and Twitter if Coleman was under the influence of alcohol during her speech. In a statement to the Daily early Monday, the University acknowledged the “awkward audio,” but said it was due to “significant feedback” from Michigan Stadium’s PA system. . . .

The statement said Coleman had slowed down her words in the speech in an attempt to adjust to audio feedback and a delay between her speech and the stadium’s speakers.

“It was an unfortunate set of circumstances that led to the audio distortion,” Fitzgerald wrote, noting that Coleman was not familiar with the wireless microphone.