Written by: Preston Waters
On Sunday night, a group of about 10 Southern students devised a plan to lighten the mood on campus during the gloomy weather.
To implement the plan, the group purchased 35 pairs of pants from Goodwill and positioned them around campus. Next, they wet the pants and left them outside in the single-digit temperature. That caused the pants to freeze in a standing position, some of the pockets containing pamphlets about the rapture.
While students found humor in the practical joke, some university officials weren’t amused. The pants were swiftly taken down before 9 a.m. on Monday.
When the Accent spoke to the university employee who removed them, the person said the pamphlets “took the joke too far,” and the university instructed her to remove them.
But the pranksters said they meant no harm. The prank, they explained, was an attempt to bring cheer to campus during a week of frigid temperatures and dreary skies.
“In the cold, there is a lot to be sad about, but we want to change that,” said one of the students. “My grandma pranked me a lot as a kid, … whether through books under my sheets or dry spaghetti in our beds. This is my way of projecting that humor to others.”
Another student expressed a similar sentiment, stating that “pranking brings people out of their normal cycles. … Hopefully it will bring a smile to those students with 8:00 [classes] on Monday morning.”
The group stressed how important it was for the prank to remain harmless.
“There [are] a lot of pranks that damage property or hurt people’s feelings,” the individual said. “We made sure to stay away from those.”
Another student explained,“We don’t want to make this a precedent or advocate for pranks more often, but we do want to show people that responsible pranks might just bring a little more laughter onto Southern’s campus.”
They planned to gather the pants Monday afternoon to avoid littering the campus, according to one student. Any extra pants will be donated to those in need.
“I thought it was an art project at first, but then I saw the pamphlets,” said Teri Reutebuch, the administrative assistant for Student Development. She was referring to the fake “rapture” pamphlets in some of the jeans pockets.
The group of pranksters explained, “It is another layer of the joke. … We as Adventists want to show how comical the idea of the rapture truly is.”
Last weekend, 35 pairs of pants were frozen and dispersed throughout Southern’s campus. Monday, January 22, 2024. (Photos by Preston Waters)
