On June 17, Jerry Foxhoven resigned from his position as the director of the Iowa Department of Human Services after two years in the role. The Friday before his resignation, which came at the request of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Foxhoven sent an email to all 4,300 of the agency’s employees asking them to spend the weekend listening to one of Tupac’s songs to commemorate the late rapper’s birthday, The Associated Press reports.
It remains unclear whether the June 14 Tupac email directly led to Foxhoven’s resignation. “As the governor has said, a lot of factors contributed to the resignation of Jerry Foxhoven and now Gov. Reynolds is looking forward to taking DHS in a new direction,” spokesperson Pat Garrett told the AP. In a text message to the AP, Foxhoven said that he believed Gov. Reynolds made her choice to “go in a different direction” prior to the June 14 email. In addition, the AP writes, he indicated “that he doubted [Tupac] Shakur was a factor” in her decision. “I think it’s a coincidence,” Foxhoven told The New York Times.
It was apparently not uncommon for Jerry Foxhoven to send employees emails about Tupac. In fact, The Associated Press obtained 350 pages of emails sent to and from Foxhoven that contained the words “Tupac” or “2Pac.” Some emails, according to the report, contained Tupac lyrics and others commemorated significant events, such as the anniversary of the rapper’s 1996 death. In addition, Foxhoven reportedly hosted weekly “Tupac Fridays” where he’d play Pac’s music in his office. He also had “Thug life” cookies for his 65th birthday, according to The AP.
The Associated Press reports that multiple employees responded positively to Foxhoven’s Tupac emails. “I love your 2pac messages,” one employee reportedly wrote him, “and the fact that you still send them (despite the haters) makes me appreciate them even more.”
