Sir Stands-a-Lot for Pres

Today's post is by guest blogger, Wes Tankersley.

In an issue of The Collegian, a few years after Jonathan and I graduated, there was an article about the greatest on-campus pranks. Needless to say, our handiwork had gone down in infamy. Several had been listed, including "Sir Stands A Lot 4 Pres."

Sir Stands A Lot...That's the suit of armor that resides in the English/History Department in Jennings Annex at MC. Sir Stands A Lot was a name handed down to us I'm sure from Matt Ervin & Co. As it often happens, several ongoing thoughts came together one day. It was the day before SGA elections, which we had no respect for, yet we still wanted to participate in because of our God-given right to elect those we saw fit. A lot of frustration had been brewing over how one runs for office at MC. One particular individual was running off the fact that he was a Christian, the son of an evangelist. (Dude, if you read this, I really am sorry that we had fun at your expense). Surely there were better candidates for us to vote for...Sir Stands A Lot...of course, why hadn't we thought of this before. So the mischief begins. We scoped out Alumni Hall, finding possible holes in the security checks of Campus Security. We waited till late afternoon and rigged the side doors to the stairwell opposite Security so we'd go unnoticed, also making sure that the access to the roof was clear. Next we located Sir Stands A Lot, making sure the doors were unlocked and he was movable. Then we waited, all afternoon and evening, not letting on to anybody what greatness was about to occur. Around midnight we found a sign, for our friend the evangelist who was running for office. It was a nice huge vinyl Coke banner. We took it. We found ducktape. Who am I kidding, JD probably had a role in his backpack. We went to JD's room and on the back decided to write "Sir Stands A Lot 4 Pres"...in ducktape. It was brilliant. We woke Steven up tearing ducktape and moved to the bathroom and finished. Next we rolled it up and walked to the top of the hill, went into Jennings Annex, then planned our next move. We decided that because of cameras we would have to move him downstairs, wait for Security to make their runs, sprint across the street to Provine Chapel around the far side of it, then sprint to the stairwell we had rigged opposite of Security and get it up the stairs and onto the roof as quick as we could. Then we waited, and waited, and waited...maybe an hour or so for things to settle down on campus and clear for our operation. Then came the awkwardness of running with a suit of armor over 7 ft tall around Provine then to Alumni. We successfully got him to roof on the highest part with all the A/C units. Realizing that standing him up and putting out our banner would ruin our chances of him being seen since someone would take him down, we waited...almost till sunrise. So we sat, and talked for hours and I really don't remember what about. It was beautiful up there, quiet, a place you could go on campus to get away and be able to see the city. We loved every minute of it. Close to sunrise we put him out and hung the banner for everyone on campus to see...and then we saw Security. Thinking that we were unseen, but not wanting to take chances, we made a run for it. We made it halfway down before we got caught. We showed our ID's, told the man exactly what we were doing, made promises to take him down in the morning after elections...and he let us go. By the way, Sir Stands A Lot got 27 votes in his first SGA election, not bad for a suit of armor! And even better, a year or so after JD died, Sir Stands A Lot made an appearance at Colonial Heights for a series Brother Mark was doing...we took a picture together.

Another Prank

Today’s blog is a two-sided story. Wes will tell his and Jonathan’s side, and I’ll tell the girl’s side. The picture above was taken during the aftermath. It's not the best picture of any of us, but I love it! I laugh out loud every time I see it!

Wes: One of our favorite pranks, that is less well known, is the one where we put the Crews family SUV on the patio in front of the Caf.
Crews: It was the night before we moved out of the dorms for the summer – summer after our sophomore year of college (and JD’s freshman yr). We had been packing up all day long, but there was still so much left to do. A group of us girls were going to the beach the next day as soon as we got all of our stuff out of the dorms. So, on top of moving out, we had to pack for the separate trip to the beach. My mom had let me borrow her SUV so that I could fit all of my stuff to bring home. I can’t remember what on earth we needed from Walmart, but a late night run to Walmart was in the works.
Wes: Like most of our pranks, it was spur of the moment. We knew Elizabeth was borrowing her mom's car, so while she was busy we obtained her keys from her roommate Rachel.
Crews: I had left the room for MAYBE three minutes taking a load to my car. Rachael later told me that JD had sat in wait until I left the room, and then he knocked on the window. Since my car was half packed (and unbeknownst to me, we were without the keys to it), we took Rachael’s car across the street to Walmart.
Wes: We had already decided to park it on the patio and had mapped out the quickest and most efficient way to drive it through the grass and up the bank to situate it properly on the patio. Next step, get my walkie talkies that I had gotten for Christmas (that seems silly now, it was definitely cool then). Next, we decided I was the driver and JD was the look-out for campus security. I parked the car, waited for JD to give me the signal (meaning we figured out the timing of the security rounds) and then as quickly as I could I drove it onto the patio and we ran (not sure what we did with the keys). We ran to JD and Steven's room in New Men's and basked in the glory of the thought of what would transpire next.
Crews: About 45 minutes later, we drive through campus and in front of the Café, and all of a sudden I start flipping out. Rachael had NO CLUE what they had wanted my keys for, so she was just as surprised as I was to see my truck on the patio! We parked her car and ran to my mom’s truck. About that time, Campus Security came creeping by and wanted to know what was going on. We explained that obviously our friends had pranked us, but we didn’t have the keys and didn’t know how to get it down. About that time, Clinton PD was making the rounds and stopped to chat with Campus Security. They thought the prank was awesome, and they wanted us to up the ante! So, Campus Security asked for the number of those who had done it. Rachael knew Jonathan had come for the keys, so we gave them Jonathan’s name and dorm number. They called…Rachael and I walked away as we tried to muffle our laughter.
Wes: What transpired next was a phone call from Campus Security telling us to come to where the car was with our ID's...we thought about not going. Seeing as how we tended to do the honest thing (really), we went, walking quietly pondering the possible consequences, to find Clinton PD waiting for us at the top of the hill.
Crews: The look on their faces when they saw that it wasn’t just campus security but was Clinton PD was priceless. They both (who really are notorious for being pranksters who always do what’s right and make good) were in complete shock, and I swear I saw a tinge of fear flash in their eyes!
Wes: Somehow, JD was implicated (probably b/c he obtained the keys). They asked for him, he stepped forward...I watched...and they cuffed him.
Crews: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! I actually have a picture of that somewhere. I need to dig it up!
Wes: I thought that was a little hefty, not sure if I was next though, and began to become suspicious when the cop called for all the girls to come out. They loved it.
Crews: I’m pretty sure that was the most fun Clinton PD or Campus Security had had in quite some time! :)
Wes: So Security tried to take Elizabeth's car down, they did a horrible job. I think I moved it eventually, not sure, the end.
Crews: You did. You had to move it because they were so scared of tearing up my car. After we parked my car, we sat on that concrete slab outside Nelson hall talking, laughing and telling stories until 3:45am.