“Officials at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh are upset that best-selling author John Grisham mentions the school in connection with a fictional gang rape in his latest novel,” reports the Associated Press.

Duquesne University spokeswoman Rose Ravasio says it’s unfortunate Grisham “chose to use our name and associate it with a fictional incident of this nature.” A character in The Associate was a student at the Catholic college in 2003, and is accused of the crime that took place in an off-campus apartment.

Grisham used the school because he is a Steelers and Pirates fan and therefore has some familiarity with Pittsburgh, according to the report.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted a Grisham e-mail:

“It was not my intent or desire to embarrass Duquesne University or make anyone there feel uncomfortable,” he said. “This is a fictional story that takes place off of the campus.”

Says the Post-Gazette story: “The main character of The Associate, Kyle McAvoy, is an idealistic Yale law school student from York who went to Duquesne on a basketball scholarship. When the novel opens, he’s coaching minority kids in New Haven and planning to take a job in Virginia helping migrant workers.”

Knowing Grisham, this progressive young student’s big mistake is getting mixed up with conservatives who do dastardly things unthinkingly because they have no souls.

“Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously,” Grisham reminds, via the book’s disclaimer. “Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincident

— Tom Hoopes