7 hilarious April Fools' Day pranks
Pulled by universities.
Oh yes, the fine line between jest and egregious fallacy can be found.
1) Spruced up statues
Dressing mascots up has become a longstanding tradition but Poor Tommy is the absolute winner. He has been the victim of so many pranks (including having his sword repositioned in a rather uncomfortable manner) that the school has installed a live webcam to deter further assaults on his integrity.
2) Remodelled campus buildings
A few enterprising students at Carlton College remodelled a whole building, transforming the university’s observatory into a huge replica of R2D2.
3) Cars hoisted onto university buildings
In 1958, Peter Davey of Cambridge University started the trend of sticking a car on the roof of a campus building. It took a week to get the car down afterwards. In 1994 some MIT students followed suit, hoisting a (fake) campus security car atop Building 10, issued with a parking ticket.
4) Fake students
Georgia tech student William Edgar Smith received an extra enrollment form and signed up his imaginary friend George P Burdell. Nowadays Burdell is a university legend who's earned a number of degrees, become a respected member of many clubs, and is a supposed acquaintance of Barack Obama.
5) What’s in a name anyway?
Johns Hopkins University changed its name, dropping the superfluous 's' for a cleaner 'John Hopkins' title. Their president announced that the extra 's' 'was a typo in the first place' causing an 'advanced identity crisis' for undergraduates.
6) Mythical intruder
The College of William & Mary discovered a nest atop the Student Recreation Center. It was found after students reported seeing objects like a giant pair of nail clippers, a limited edition DVD of The Lion King, and a CD of The Eagles' greatest hits falling from the sky. Investigators decided to take a look at the nest themselves and found the inhabitant was none other than the Griffin, W&M's mythical mascot who is part eagle, part lion.
7) Website takeover
George Washington University Student Newspaper did a full takeover of their site, relaunching for one day as The GW Hatchet Job. Amongst their spoof headlines:
- To make up for budget cuts, university sells weed on the side
- The Hatchet Job celebrates its 1 millionth error
- The five GW guys you'll meet on Tinder
Source: The Guardian and DCINNO
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