Jimmy Clifton put all of his eggs in one Target shopping cart. All 738 of them.
“I thought holiday spirit was dying,” the Weinberg sophomore said. “So, I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if I hid a bunch of Easter eggs around campus?'”
What may have started as joke turned into a full-blown effort April 23 when Clifton and about seven of his friends individually stuffed the 738 eggs with notes, wishing all of Northwestern a “Happy Easter.” The entire process took about four hours, and the students were up until 2 a.m. spreading the eggs across campus.
“I was just reminding people who may not have forgotten about Easter, but put it on the back burner, that it is a day that you are allowed to be happy on, whether or not you celebrate it,” Clifton said.
The note inside each egg read, “Happy Easter and have a wonderful day. Luyu, Jimmy and the gang.”
Though Clifton said spreading the eggs was not much trouble, several students, including McCormick sophomore Cindy SoloMonday, said the sentiment influenced them.
Solomon said she stumbled upon one of these eggs during a morning jog. Though she does not celebrate Easter, she said she admired the time and effort Clifton put into making people of all religions smile.
“I’m Jewish,” she said. “But it was fun because it was the first time I’ve found an Easter egg.”
Communication freshman Rianna Curran said she was thrilled to help when Clifton texted her the idea Saturday night. She helped place the notes in the eggs.
“When Jimmy has a good idea it’s one of those things you can tell will work,” she said. “He’s one of those people that always likes to make others happy. He’s selfless.”
Curran said participating made her holiday more meaningful. It was one of her first Easters away from home, but doing something she called “fun and goofy” made it easier.
Though he spent Easter with his family, Weinberg freshman Tony Guerrero said finding one of Clifton’s eggs made his day.
“It reminded me that I should smile and not worry about all the hectic things in my life,” said Guerrero, who spent most of Easter Sunday studying for two midterms.
Next year, Clifton said he hopes to reach more students and spread 8,000 eggs.
“I got a lot of joy out of this and I think the rest (of the gang) did too,” he said. “It seems like a lot of work, but we just did it on a whim and it ended up being fun.”
