Students and alumni of Framingham State College aren’t laughing after an ill-conceived letter tried to turn a fundraising drive into a joke. The gag? School officials repeated the word “blah” 137 times – as in “blah, blah, blah” – on a letter sent to about 6,000 alumni.

The Sept. 5 letter called on recent graduates who hadn’t yet donated to the college to give money to the school’s Legacy Fund to assist students who need financial aid. “With the recent economic downturn and loan crisis, it has become even more important for Framingham State College to receive your support. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” reads the letter, which was signed by Timothy Cornely, president of the school’s alumni association and assistant superintendent of Holliston Public Schools.

The school apologized nearly a month later in a letter from Christopher Hendry, Framingham State’s vice president of college advancement. Hendry wrote that he called the letter a “misguided and embarrassing attempt to connect with alumni in a different way.” “I greenlighted it and said, ‘Yeah, give it a try,”‘ said Hendry, who was hired earlier this year. He said the so-called “blah, blah” letter is a marketing style that can be used by schools to raise donations from younger alumni. But some among the 6,000 alumni who got the letter didn’t like it and contacted the school, he said.

Steve Whittemore, current president of the college student government association, said the school wasn’t wrong to try being creative in its fundraising efforts, but didn’t agree with the attempt at humor.

“I thought it was absolutely absurd and ridiculous,” Whittemore said.

Hilarious, if not very effective.