Off-campus house decorated with animal carcasses
Baseball team apologizes for prank; story picked up by national media outlets
Maria Schmitt
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: News
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"I thought they were shoveling snow," Rea said. "But they were using a shovel to carry the small dead animals."
Rea described what he saw: figures dragging animal carcasses across the street to 244 N. West St. from 243 N. West St., commonly known as The Baseball House.
Sunlight revealed a scene Hillsdale Police Patrolman Randy Casler said he's never witnessed: a slew of dead animals on the porch of 244 N. West St., including one and a half deer, several large rodents and a black goat with alleged gunshot wounds to the head and sternum. Under the goat, perpetrators placed a copy of the April 2 edition of The Collegian sports section. The main headline read "Lost in left field."
Beyond section editor and senior John Krudy lives at 244 N. West St.
A Collegian story published online Monday evening detailing the incident garnered not only campus attention, but the attention of several national news outlets Wednesday afternoon. By Wednesday evening, the story appeared in 14 news outlets and five blogs.
Dean of Men Aaron Petersen arrived on the scene with police at about 5 p.m. Monday. As they investigated, Kelly Barnett, a Pittsford woman, walked up West Street with her daughter, Shannon Blankenship, 14. They shielded their eyes and pinched their noses as they walked by.
"I couldn't imagine picking one of those up and putting it right there," Barnett said, pointing to the porch. The tip of her finger traced a line in the air of the animal entrails strung from the porch posts like Christmas lights.
Casler assessed the situation and asked the residents to fill out official statements. When asked to rank the scene on a scale of one to 10, Casler thought for a moment.
"On a scale of one to 10 I'd say this is pretty rude," he said. "I've seen people put forks in yards - millions of forks - and I've seen toilet paper. But this is the most crude I've ever seen."
Then he smiled.
"If that'd been a bear, now then I'd be impressed - but a goat. You can get one of those at the [Saturday morning fairground auctions]."
Petersen knocked on the door of 243 N. West St. and alerted the residents of the situation. Members of the baseball team removed the animal carcasses from the porch of 244 N. West St. later that evening, and by Tuesday Petersen said several members of the team confirmed suspicions of their involvement in the prank.
Senior Jesse Smith, co-captain of the team, said the players who pulled the prank absolutely did not shoot the goat.
"It was just on the side of the road by the fairgrounds," he said, a story confirmed by Special Assistant to the President Mike Harner, who said he drove by a goat carcass near the fairgrounds a couple days prior.
Team members apologized to editors of The Collegian Wednesday afternoon for their prank.
Senior Rob Ogden, who also lives at 244 N. West St., said his initial surprise has subsided since he first saw the animals.
"As you can imagine, I was a bit shocked to come home and find Bambi's extended family eviscerated on my front porch," he said. "But, I talked to the baseball guys and learned there was no malicious intent."
Ogden said he called the police merely to get the scene cleaned up.
He considered the original editorial irresponsible.
"I'm not going to press charges," he said. "I see the humor."
Some students did not see the humor. Senior Erin Murrell said she considered the incident disgusting and immoral.
"This is irreverently flinging God's creation in his face," Murrell said. "Where does that fit into the Honor Code?"
Murrell said the deer guts strung across the porch took things too far.
"That's desecrating it," she said. "They had to cut the deer open. That's sick."
Other students seemed more relaxed.
Sophomore Alex Ralston, thought the incident was funny.
"It was hilarious, but it was a little disgusting," he said.
Managing editor Chase Purdy contributed to this report.
