There is no mystery at Samford more captivating than that of the Sons of Light. Shrouded in black cloaks which blend into the midnight darkness, they descend onto campus after hours and execute elaborate plans and arrange thrilling mysteries. There and gone in a flash, students awake to the evidence, and those unlucky enough to sleep in might just miss it entirely.
There is a history of the Sons of Light hosting scavenger hunts in previous spring semesters, but students never know when the secret society will strike. Some years it’s an Easter egg hunt, some years it’s on Valentine’s Day, and some years it doesn’t happen at all.
So when the call to adventure rang out the morning of Friday, Feb. 12, students began to scramble. The brothers of the Sons of Light had hidden nine Valentine’s Day letters across campus, and the chase was on.
Senior art student Nicole Weldy was eating breakfast in the cafeteria around 8 a.m. when she received a frantic Snapchat message from a friend, informing her of the scavenger hunt.
“I was gonna work on homework, but it’s the Sons of Light,” Weldy said. “These chances only come around every couple of years. I have to hunt for these letters.”
Weldy immediately set off. She started her search in the bookstore, asking the clerk if he had seen anyone drop off a letter, then she rushed to the mailroom. Nothing. Weldy ran to DBH, but in her haste, missed a letter that was right underneath her nose.
“I had walked into DBH and was looking behind shelves in there, and I had walked by these lockers, but never opened anything. Later on that evening, Locker 39 in that building had a letter in it. I was right there and I missed it,” Weldy said.
After searching the UC, checking DBH, and scouring the library, Weldy learned that the first letter had already been found in the free books section of Chapman.
“So you assume, if there’s nine letters out there, and ones already been found in Chapman, that the second one isn’t also going to be found in Chapman. So you’re trying to think what are nine important buildings, what nine buildings would be important to the Sons of Light?” Weldy said.
Weldy was all the way in Propst when she unlocked a Sherlockian level of deduction: It had rained the night before, so the letters wouldn’t be outside. They were most likely hidden in the middle of the night, so they had to be in buildings that all students could access. And since it was a Friday, the letters would more likely be in places students could get to in between classes, like hallways. And where could you even hide a letter in a hallway? Then, it hit her.
Weldy raced to Brooks where she found her letter from the Sons of Light.
“It was pinned up on a bulletin board. Not underneath anything, just pinned up with two push pins on the board with their red seal on it.” Weldy said. “I couldn’t have been the first person in Brooks. I didn’t get there until 11, so how many fellow students would have walked by and just overlooked it?”
When she found the letter, Weldy was supposed to DM the Sons of Light and tell them which brother’s signature was on the letter, where she found it, and send a picture of the letter.
“I was so excited that I literally forgot the name of the building I was in, and had to double check,” Weldy shared.
After responding with their felicitations, the Sons of Light told Weldy to hold on to her letter, hinting that the letter would be used for something later. All nine letters were found over Valentine’s weekend, and no one has heard from the Sons of Light since.
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