The Duck Epidemic At Pace University

Have you seen anything weird happening on campus this semester… Anything involving ducks in particular? Well, if you haven’t, open your eyes! There is a whole duck epidemic going on!

1. DUCKS!

Not this type… Pace ducks! 

2. PACE DUCKS!

No… not the ducks that are in Choate Pond either. 

3. RUBBER PACE DUCKS!

Starting at the beginning of the semester, Pleasantville students started noticing something strange on campus… small rubber ducks… everywhere. Hidden in the stairwells, classrooms, and in all the strangest places possible.

After a few days of random duck sightings, the following spree began. No, the ducks did not start finding us, but the Pace Duck Instagram account did! And it all began to make sense. 

By the way, if you don’t already, follow @real_pace_ducks. 

I did try to get an interview with the Real (not rubber) pace ducks about these impostors, but they wanted no say in the matter.

4. The Rules

• Find a pace duck. And keep an eye out because they’re everywhere. I found three ducks in my lifetime. One was the Ice Cream at Kessel. Another on the toilet. And the last one in a tree.
  • Not all of these ducks were hidden by the starter of this game. If you found a duck, it was now your job to give it a new hiding spot. You didn’t choose the duck life, but it sure did chose you.
• Post and Share the duck. This one is optional. But, it’s a nice shout out from @real_pace_duck on their story. Also, it’s just kudos to the previous duck hider, some people get super creative. The pace ducks account also held several contests that required you to post to enter and win.
• Hide the duck. I hid my three ducks very strategically. One in a tree, one in the bird feeder by the mailroom, and the last one at the farm visiting the other duckies. The life cycle of … bird … well, I guess it wasn’t the right strategy for ducks. Other students got just as creative with their duck hiding spots. Some of my favorite spots being, fruit fridge in Kessel, in plant pots, on top of architecture, and studying with us in Mortola Library.

5. The Contests!

The first contest was “Find the Code”. There was one duck hidden along with all others that had a special code, the prize for finding this duck was HUGE. Literally. The prize was a mega-sized duck. And it took less than a month for a winner to win. The winner found the coded duck inside a tree by the tennis courts! Not an easy find. 

The second contest was in October and it was very artsy. The goal was to find a duck and then give it the best Halloween costume possible. Using paint and whatever other materials you could think of. Create a work of art then send it in. Some of the coolest designs were, Mozart, Pennywise the Clown, Harry Potter, a chickenpox chick, and finally the winner!  A jailbird (with its own jail cell). 

There have not been any other contests, yet. But hopefully, the fun will continue next semester. Maybe a Valentine’s day duck challenge? Maybe a swim to the bottom of Choate to find one challenge (I’m kidding do not do this).

Pace Ducks were also taken to the NYC campus for a short time, and Merrimack College has also expressed interest in our ducks. Maybe this will go down as Pace’s legacy.  

6. Why?

Why did Pace Ducks begin, why did it pick up traction so quick? Well, I don’t know the answer to the second one, but according to a Q&A poll on Instagram, the idea came from boredom, two-day shipping and wanting to have fun around campus… but mainly boredom. In an interview with the Pace Chronicle, the duck leader stated, “A while back one of us had purchased two hundred rubber ducks with no particular intent.” Maybe we all should start making random Amazon orders.

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This duck leader also went on to give a thank you statement to the students of Pace, “All we want to say is thank you! Thanks to those who have followed and played along! You all took a truly innocent concept and put your all into it!” 

And on behalf of Pace, I just want to say, thank you back, duck leader, I never knew rubber ducks would bring me this much excitement. I even had one of my professors talk about how excited they were about finding one.

7. Who?

Who is the mastermind behind these ducks? Well, I also don’t know. This seems to be the secret of Pace as well as the fun. I’m not sure if it’s an intentional mystery, but it is for most students. Pace Duck leader, if you’re out there, let yourself be known!! We all would love to get the inside scoop on the process of creating and maintaining the most entertaining thing Pleasantville campus has seen in a while. 

Maybe even some hints, duck leader, this is a mystery that needs to be solved. For the sake of our sanity!

8. Pace Ducks Forever.

As it seems right now there is no end. Ducks continue to be hidden and found even months after the beginning of this epidemic. But, the leader of this army is slowing down by putting new ducks out there, understandable. Maybe we should start a fundraiser. Regardless of this though, I don’t see this duck epidemic ending anytime soon. With the constant artistic and creative competitions continuing to start, there is no way the students of Pace will lose interest either. Even the constant articles being written about these ducks makes it continue to live on. PACE DUCKS FOREVER!

Did you find a Pace Duck yet? Where do you think the best hiding place is?  Do you have any fun contest ideas for the real pace duck creator? Let us know below!

Featured image link: https://www.reddit.com/r/photoshopbattles/comments/cuzggz/psbattle_cat_with_rubber_bath_ducks/