The Vanguard Grinchmas Tree Saga

For the past three years, campus pranksters have stolen christmas trees from a plethora of housing halls and placed them on an array of different buildings across campus. Last Christmas, a festive tree with an exuberant amount of tinsel appeared on top of Scott for all to see. A search went out for the culprit and an extensive amount of caution tape was laid out just in case the tree took a tumble off the roof; it was basically a crime scene. Dulce Campos who works in Campus Safety and is a current student on campus stated, “The Christmas Tree incident on Scott actually caused some pricey repairs to be made, as some of the building’s roofing was damaged in the process of the prank.”

The year before, the Christmas Tree mysteriously went missing out of the Towers lobby and somehow reappeared on top of the caf soon after. The thievery does not stop there, three years ago the Christmas Tree from the Catalina lobby mysteriously went missing, and the building’s RA staff engaged in an avid search for the Christmas tree grinch who had casually made the tree disappear. A while later, the tree reappeared in the lobby and life went back to normal in Catalina Hall.

The holidays are a fun and festive time filled with good food, gift giving and remembering the reason for the season. However, the weeks spent at school between Thanksgiving and Christmas can be rough. Thanksgiving Break is often nothing more than a teaser of the holidays, with the cruel reality of finals and passing classes that hits shortly after returning to the routine of classes.  Because of this, students look for creative outlets to express their holiday cheer.  While school administration does not agree with this mischievous expression of Christmas cheer, the Who’s down in The Laguna and Huntington Halls feel quite differently.

It is still a mystery as to who these mysterious campus pranksters are.  As the tradition seemingly carries on year after year, important questions have arisen: Why keep Christmas contained to a lobby when it can redefine social parameters and shine from a roof? And more importantly, will the Christmas Tree troublemakers strike again this year, or are they taking a break in order to make an even bigger debut next Christmas? Looks like we all have yet to find out…

**Disclaimer: this article does not condone the actions of students violating the wishes of Campus Safety and Vanguard University Administration.  If you have any information on the infamous Christmas Tree Campus Pranksters, please report to your superiors.