On the morning of Friday April 1st I was stopped in my tracks as I entered the Law Library. On the gates in front of me was an unexpected sign:

I stared at the sign not really knowing what to think. I had a moment of panic, did I forget something major that was happening here this morning that called for the removal of shoes!? As inconspicuously as possible, I tiptoed into the Law Library to peek around the corner (yes, I still had my shoes on). I could see nothing to warrant the removal of my shoes. I started to relax as I obviously hadn’t forgotten any event. Maybe we were getting the carpets steam cleaned, but they would do that at night…maybe they steam cleaned the carpets last night and they still needed time to dry! YES! Finally our old carpet would be somewhat revitalized! A quick glance down at the carpet let me know that had NOT happened. As I crossed the floor to the staff area I noticed other signs hanging on the end of the carrels:

3L = 3rd year law student

2L = 2nd year law student

I finally clued in to what was going on when I saw where the first year law students had been relegated – into the basement:

Before the Law Library opened, upper year law students had put the signs up as an April Fool’s prank on their fellow students, with the first years getting the worst of it. Yes, there was a number of them in the basement wondering why they had to study there on that day. And yes, some people even took their shoes off.