SARAH YORO | staff writer
April Fool’s Day is not the only time when pranks take place. More times than not, they occur when one least expects it. And while some pranks have been creative and entertaining, others have ended up backfiring. Regardless, APU has had its share of laughter through practical jokes over the years.
As an APU alumnus of 1981, all sorts of humorous pranks come to mind for Executive Director of Alumni Relations Craig Wallace, including one involving mice and chapel.
“Back in 1985, Dave Bixby was speaking in chapel and a few guys on the football team sat in the back of chapel—we were all in one location in those days—and they released a bunch of mice,” Wallace said. “As the mice started running towards the front of the chapel, you could just hear everyone screaming. Every row that the mice would hit, you’d hear more women screaming. It was pretty crazy.”
According to Wallace, when Adams Hall was a men’s dormitory there used to be an in-comm system where students could call a specific room from the main lobby.
“A couple of guys who lived there knew how to re-wire stuff and basically got in there one night and re-wired all the rooms so at 3 o’clock in the morning, every room blasted with rock ‘n’ roll music,” Wallace said. “No one knew how to turn it off. That happened a few times until finally somebody tore out all the wires from the wall.”
One prank that many students recall involves Biola, a blackout T-shirt and Jesus. As an APU alumnus of 2005, assistant director of undergraduate admissions Jackson Stava admitted to playing a part in the legendary prank.
According to Stava, the prank took place his junior year, the night before the APU basketball teams played at Biola.
“We actually went down there once before Christmas break to scope out the site and measure Jesus,” Stava said. “I went home over Christmas break and my mom and I sewed together a blackout shirt. It was nine and a half by eleven and a half feet and my dad spray painted ‘blackout’ on the front.”
The night before the game, Stava and 12 other students arrived on the Biola campus armed with the large T-shirt and ladders.
“We hung the T-shirt on their mural of Jesus and were on and off campus in about 12 minutes,” Stava said.
According to Stava, the group of APU students took many pictures, video recorded the prank, and handed out flyers at the game the next day saying ‘Jesus wears blackout’. A short video of the cougar-loving Jesus was shown the next week at 9/11 chapel.
Back in the early 1990s, current Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students Terry Franson acted as head coach for the track and field team who got into trouble in Texas right after they won the national championship.
According to Franson, some of the team members re-arranged the letters on a local marquee and were arrested by Texas state troopers. They were booked under grand theft for stealing plastic numbers.
“We ended up having to miss our flight because they were in jail from two in the morning until 10 a.m. the next day,” Franson said. “[The judge] came in early the next morning and met with me and then met with the guys. [The judge] laughed and said, ‘Your coach [Franson] is really mad and wants me to yell at you, but I think it’s kind of funny so I’m going to let you guys off.’”
According to Franson, that day the California boys learned to not mess with Texas.
In terms of recent pranks, two years ago the iconic letter “A” on the Garcia Trail was painted from white to brick red.
“One day, I woke up in the morning and the ‘A’ was painted a brick red like APU colors,” junior business administration major Eric Winblad said. “It was up there for about a week before they finally tore it down and put up a new tarp. From my understanding, nobody got in trouble and [APU] had no idea who did it.”
Although practical jokes allow for laughs amongst the APU community, Franson warns they should be performed with caution.
“I think good wholesome fun that doesn’t damage property or hurt people and doesn’t violate the law is a part of life,” Franson said. “You need to laugh.”
According to Wallace, Stava’s prank involving the blackout T-shirt and Jesus mural was ideal because it was harmless.
“Biola is a perfect [example],” Wallace said. “It was creative, no one got hurt. We definitely got some kudos for that.”
Overall, many unforgettable pranks have occurred at APU over the years. APU will have to wait and see what future pranks are in store.
“Things have changed since I was student here,” Wallace said. “Things that we did back then, you can’t even think of doing now. I think good healthy pranks are a part of college life but you definitely don’t want to destroy property or hurt people.”
