well, thinking back again to my college days, it dawns on me that the 4 or so years when I was a junior-senior-grad student in philosophy were a series of quirky, silly prank-filled times by the rag-tag bunch of Philosophy students we had...we actually had a Philosophy club, called Dialectica. Anyway, we did things like, when the area in front of our building flooded after heavy rains, due to the ineptitude and inability of the grounds dept. to drain the area, we placed planks across the deeper parts, along with a sign that read..."John Gaddis Memorial Swamp...temporary bridge courtesy of the Dept. of Philosophy Corps of Engineers" (Gaddis was the director of the physical plant for many years)......we also unveiled from a balcony on the student union one day, a 30 foot long by 3 ft. high banner which read .."HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FREDDY NIETZSCHE"...got us in the school paper!

But the best was what we did to/for the entire school!! It was 'about' 1968-69, and way out west, the beat poet, Allen Ginsberg had just gotten a $5000 grant from someone..(he said it was the most money he had ever had up to then)..and set out to tour the country in an old VW bus..and one of his friends (Charlie Plymell) was a Wichita State alum!..so Charlie suggested Ginsgerg stop and see dear old WSU!. Well, Ginsberg contacted the English Dept, and offered to give a poetry reading, but the ARCH-conservative bunch there were NOT gonna have this drug-ridden, foul-mouthed hippie talk to THEIR sweet students!.....
....enter the Philosophy club!..We got wind of this, and with with wicked glee at sticking it to the entire school and the stodgy English Dept, we said WE'D sponsor him...and in the Student Union for a major appearance! *grin*..The authorities huffed & puffed, but they could not figure out how to deny a legal campus organization the right to sponsor a nationally known speaker! But they COULD threaten to censor it...by sending the Dean of Liberal Arts to monitor things and shut it down if 'ol Alan crossed the line!...So Ginsberg arrived, with Peter Orlovsky, and happily gave a couple of private talks to Philosophy classes,(he was neat!)...then the main event...the place was filled..even TV cameras showed up! The poor Dean was there, NOT relishing this job...and not even sure what standards to apply. Well, Ginsberg was masterful!...he started very slowly, reading low-key poems and telling witty stories, enchanting everyone....then occasionally inserting a slighty naughty anecdote or poem...until after about 1½ hours, he was rolling...reading his most controversial stuff, liberally laced with 4-letter words and 'attention getting' themes...but the transition was so masterful, that, like putting lobsters in cold water and slowly raising the temperature, the audience barely realized they were being had...and the Dean saw NO abrupt change where it was obvious he should stop things...

So.., although we did it half as a prank, it actually worked VERY well...students were exposed to a real talent and piece of history, our club gained real stature and it dawned on a lot of folk that no one was 'corrupted' by hearing about aspects of the 'counter-culture'

I guess there WERE those who continued to huff & puff, but it was ok, and serves to make the point that a 'prank' can easily have positive consequences.