As soon as the Crimson’s editorial staff put together their schedule for the year they noticed that April 1st fell on a Wednesday, their regular publication day. They dreamed and planned all fall and winter about what they would do.
They are good group. Sharp journalists. Funny. Clever. Diligent. And yet I was a bit hesitant. College papers get in trouble for April Fools jokes every year. (At least two have already this year.) But they are very careful and conscientious. They wrote up fun copy and then took great pains to make sure that they weren’t putting words into the mouths of real people on campus or libeling anyone.
The only real person in the April Fool’s section of the paper was Jameis Winston, and he’s a public figure and our manufactured quotes didn’t say anything bad. They did a nice job throughout, and it has been well-received on campus. Here’s a small version of the April Fool’s pages:
The hammock headline is my favorite. Always knew there was something sketchy about those things The squirrel story was a hit, as you might imagine.
The Mr. Beeson Twitter account was pleased:
YESSSSSSSS pic.twitter.com/hScA1tstM5
— Ralph Waldo Beeson (@RalphBeeson) April 1, 2015
Someone did ask me if they meant to run the masthead backward. I made a big production of it. “BACKWARD!?!?” with a big, panicked rustling of paper.
Yes, they did.
