This story is pretty amazing and shows what an influence the politics of the last seven years have had on day to day business.

Blake Neff of the Daily Caller reports.

Top College Donor’s Tip: ‘Play The Race Card!’

A major donor to Ohio University (OU) is under fire for his novel strategy to fight student and faculty protesters: “Just play the race card!”

Steven Schoonover is a trustee for the OU Foundation and has his name emblazoned on the school’s communications building, which he donated over $7 million to build. Now, students want him to resign and have his name erased because of alleged racism and improper meddling on his part.

The controversy goes back to last March. The school-owned house provided to president Roderick McDavis developed a bat infestation, leading to a bat encounter that caused McDavis’s wife to fall and break her leg. In response, the school moved McDavis, who is black, into a new, $1.2 million mansion and planned to buy it, outraging students and faculty who saw it as an extravagance.

As that controversy was erupting, Schoonever sent an email to the OU Foundation executive board advising them to borrow a popular political tactic.

“I think we should handle it the same way the Democrats do every time the Republicans attack President Obama,” Schoonever said in the April 2 email. “They label them racists. So if you are worried about the petition by the faculty just play the race card and call them racists and make them defend themselves! They pull that in Washington everyday!”

The email came to light thanks to an open records request filed by local media.