Students berated University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) chancellor Phyllis Wise online when she announced classes would be held despite frigid temperatures.

Wise took to her own social media platform Thursday to address the mean-spirited messages she received after announcing Sunday that classes on Monday would go on as scheduled even though the thermometer barely passed zero.

"What was most disturbing was witnessing social media drive a discussion quickly into the abyss of hateful comments and even threats of violence," Wise wrote in an op-ed for Inside Higher Ed, posted to her official chancellor's blog. "I shudder to think what might happen if that type of vitriol had been directed at a vulnerable member of our student body or university community."

Inside Higher Ed, an online publication, reported Tuesday the angry and mean messages directed at Wise. The hashtag "#F--kPhyllis" was used on Twitter to lash out against the chancellor, but also by people belittling the digital hate aimed toward her.

Some messages targeted Wise for her Asian descent and one person compared her to Kim Jong Un. Others targeted Wise's status as a woman. To go along with the social media backlash, students started a petition on Change.org to reverse Wise's decision. It fell well short, but did gain more than 8,000 digital signatures in only a few days.

A UIUC spokesman said the chancellor learned about the messages from receiving emails expressing support. She even got a bouquet of flowers from someone.

UIUC was seemingly alone in reacting in this manner. Other Illinois and Chicago schools dealt with the same weather and also had to go to class, but handled the news in a much more civil tone.

The school will now hold a special discussion next Thursday called "Campus Conversation in Civility," the Daily Illini reported.

"The negative comments, as offensive as they were, are protected speech. But what is protected expression and what is the level of discourse we as educators expect from our students can be very different things. And the size of that gap - so evident this week - is what has been most disappointing," Wise wrote. "Racist, intimidating or culturally derogatory epithets have no place in any debate in any circumstance. Of all places, a university should be home to diverse ideas and differing perspectives, where robust - and even intense - debate and disagreement are welcomed."