Early in the morning on Monday, Feb. 19, Samford freshman Durham Cooke exited Vail Hall to make her way to her first class of the week. She was shocked to discover that, on this particular morning, the campus was littered with tiny, yellow rubber ducks.
“So I woke up on Monday, right, and I’m an early riser, so I got up and was enjoying the weather,” Cooke said. “And I look over and there are just thousands of ducks laying around.”
The ducks had been sprinkled across the grassy quad, placed in tree branches, hidden in corners of classrooms and even plopped into the fountains on Ben Brown and Brewer Plazas. All morning, Samford students stopped, stared and wondered at the phenomenon.
Cooke was not the only freshman who, still being new to campus, was shocked by the appearance of the ducks. Freshman Sarah Pritchard also saw the ducks before most other students on campus.
“I usually go to breakfast around 7 o’clock, so I saw all the ducks without people taking them,” said Pritchard. “There were some in the fountains, on Ben Brown. They were all over the posts in front of the library.”
By mid-morning, most of the ducks were gone, as students took them as keepsakes or moved them to new spots.
“I got out of class, I’d say, about noon, and there was hardly any left,” Pritchard said. “I’d say it was probably the best day of the week so far.”
Other students shared Pritchard’s sentiments: the morning of the ducks definitely brightened students’ days. At the start of the school week, a time when many students are stressed about their busy schedules and upcoming deadlines, waking up to thousands of ducks around campus brought joy to many.
Libbie Winkelman, junior international relations major, said she appreciated the fun, lighthearted nature of the gesture.
“I love little rubber duckies,” Winkelman said. “I think it [the ducks] just keeps it lighthearted here on campus.”
Cooke shared that the rubber ducks reminded her of her childhood obsession with ducks that continues to this day.
“When I was born, my first gift was this ratchet-y, orange duck, that I still have by the way, and yeah, that’s kind of where it started,” Cooke said. “And I’ve owned two sets of ducks growing up. We got them and I raised them.”
Students were not the only ones affected by the duck anomaly. Emily Hynds, associate dean and professor of mathematics, shared that she saved a rubber duck’s life and is now keeping it in her office.
“I saved a duck that was sitting outside my office,” Hynds said. “People kept stepping on it. I saved its little life.”
Of course, the spontaneous appearance of the ducks also brought up a question asked by students and faculty alike: Who put them there?
Many students have speculated about the masterminds behind the “prank.” Some have wondered if those involved are part of the Sons of Light, a secret society made up of Samford students that has been active on campus for many years. Others have theorized that it was planned, executed and paid for by a sorority or fraternity.
According to Pritchard, whoever paid for the ducks spent a large sum of money.
“I went on Amazon, and I looked it up, and whoever paid for them, they either paid $300 or $150, depending on the deal,” Pritchard said.
Fizz, a popular app where users can create anonymous posts, exploded with theories throughout the day on Monday. Some Fizz users dubbed the day, “The Duck Dynasty.” One anonymous post declared that the exact number of ducks was 1,517. Whether this is true or not, students are still speculating about the ducks to this day.
“As for who did it, I don’t know, to be completely honest,” Winkelman said. “Part of me is like: is it a senior prank? Part of me is like: is it some organization? I don’t really know who did it but hearing about it put a smile on my face.”
Staff Writer
