It started with a banned YouTube video and a sense of humor.
The flash mob, started by sophomore Matthew Pritchett, has been the talk on campus and in the community since it happened three weeks ago.
Based off a banned Xbox 360 ad, its purpose is to get a group of people together to shoot finger guns at each other, fall to the ground, get up and leave the area.
“I think it was a success,” Pritchett said. “It’s was just students having fun and making memories.”
Memories that have concerned some of the town and have caused many people to shed negative light on Pritchett and those who were involved.
In an editorial published in the Ottawa Herald on Jan. 28, Pritchett was called a “loser crying for attention” and was just “like any frustrated child acting out.”
However, instead of responding to the editorials written, Pritchett just shrugged it off.
“It was taken out of context by the town,” he said. “I laughed. It’s a small town wheneveryone’s phones go off and your story is all over the news bcause a bunch of kids walk into Walgreens.”
Students seem to be in agreement that brushing the negative comments off was the right thing to do.
“I think it would’ve just stirred up the pot, causing even more responses to that,” Christina Jeannin, first year from Leavenworth said.
Pritchett however, thinks that the flash mob was taken out of context because the community just didn’t understand.
“Of course you’re going to get more reaction in a small town,” he said. “If people just don’t understand what it is, it’s expected that they’re going to be bothered by it.”
But not all of the reactions Pritchett has gotten have been negative.
“Some people have recognized me and thought it was a fun idea,” he said.
Victoria Boor, first year physical education major agrees.
“It was fun and a way to get everyone out,” she said. “It was also one of the coolest things I’ve seen.”
The university has also responded to the flash mob.
“We’ve talked to the people in charge of the flash mob organization,” Tom Taldo, interim dean of student affairs said. “It did not help build community relations. I think it was a leaning process for our students. A lot of students here learned how to handle situations better next time.”
Even though there were a lot of what if’s after the act happened, Pritchett is leaving them at just that.
“What if’s are exactly what they are, what if’s. It’s in the past; people need to let it go. No one was harmed, no one has problems with it except those who didn’t understand what it was about.”
An understanding that students seem to think is needed to make judgments.
“It didn’t do any harm,” Jeannin said. “I think a lot of people reacted negatively before they knew what really happened.”
As for what Pritchett is planning next, he smiles and adds to expect the unexpected. For now, some students agree that they’d be on board if there were another event.
“If I had the option, I’d do it again,” Boor said. “I think it was just kids having fun and it was harmless.”
And she isn’t the only one.
“I would participate it something like this again,” Jeannin said.