The College Fix

Mizzou Squirrel Observation Society attracts standing room only crowd

Laughter is the best medicine, as the old saying goes.

And it seems college students are hungry for some – what with cancel culture making comedians scarce on campuses, reports about a massive uptick in student mental health problems, and the all-around madness darkening much of higher academia these days.

Enter the Mizzou Squirrel Observation Society.

During a recent meeting, the new University of Missouri student club attracted a standing room only crowd for a slideshow presentation about the history of squirrel “tyranny,” The Maneater student newspaper reports.

Afterward, students who wished to join the club, which recently applied for official status, participated in an initiation pledge made on a copy of Oprah Winfrey’s memoir, “What I Know For Sure,” according to the report.

To recruit such a crowd, freshman and club founder Henderick “Mort” Morton said he started walking around campus with a sign that read: “Not a cult. I promise.”

One student, Ruth Williamson told The Maneater, “I was just walking to my class one day and I saw Mort standing out there with his sign and I said, ‘That is a man I could get behind.'”

Along with hosting regular meetings and a “Resist the squirrel tyranny rally” last month, the club also produces funny photos and videos — some of which have thousands of views — on its Instagram account.

One video warns students about university leaders covering up an underhanded plot by the “rebel” squirrels in a threat to “democracy.” Another shows a student attempting to catch a miscreant squirrel with a pile of acorns and a cardboard box.

“Look around you … Faculty leave, deans retire, students graduate but one thing always stays: a permanent, undying brigade of squirrels always here and forever silently watching,” another post reads.

“Why are they here? Who leads them? What are their goals? These are all questions we aim to answer in the Squirrel Observation Society,” it states.

After their recent meeting, Williamson, now the club vice president, said she felt “excited that this many people saw our silly little signs — not silly little signs – saw our very well-put-together signs and that they said, ‘This is something I want to be a part of,’ and took time out of their day to come and help this initiative.”

It’s stupid. It’s corny. It’s absurd. But it’s also refreshing to see such simple creativity and playfulness coming out of university students, untainted by politics or ideology. Comedy where the only agenda is fun. The response to the club suggests students are craving such things, too.

Colleges campuses need more of this. Let’s hope the Mizzou student revolution spreads.

MORE: Comedian reported to campus bias response team for joke about person’s identity

IMAGE: Mizzou Squirrel Observation Society/Instagram

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