Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

Ellen Comes to Campus?!

Peter E.

October 2, 2009 - 2:48 PM

My phone buzzed on Tuesday afternoon, "TXT Message from Aaron English: Ellen DeGeneres is on campus."

My initial response was, "Yeah right. What would a big time celebrity be doing on a rainy Tuesday in Eugene?"

I recollected that there was a crowd beginning to assemble outside the Erb Memorial Union (EMU) as I biked home from class, but I figured it must be a student organization fair or giveaway or something of the like. Little did I suspect that it was a star like Ellen DeGeneres attracting a hoard of people to the heart of campus. My roommate Jamie had gotten the news from our fellow roommate Aaron too, and was hastily throwing on his shoes and jacket to bike to campus to confirm the news. I quickly assessed the situation: it was very implausible that Ellen was on campus, and even if she was, what was the appeal? Daytime TV and crowds of screaming people? (Two of my favorite things!) Rationality out the window, I yelled to Jamie, "Wait up! I'm coming too!"

The two of us hopped on our bikes and mobbed down University Street dodging traffic and rain drops towards the EMU. We arrived to find a buzz in the air and a couple hundred people swarming a television camera and microphone emblazoned with the blue "Ellen Show" insignia. Jamie and I, befuddled, tried to make sense of the scene and climbed up a railing to get an aerial view of the mob.

Disappointedly, no Ellen to be seen.

On the other hand, there was a camera crew and reporter that did work for Ellen. We asked people around us what was up, and soon found out that Ellen's Twitter (http://twitter.com/theEllenShow) announced to Oregon Ducks to be alert and then soon followed with the information that the first 10 students to get to the EMU with bars of soap would when free cell phones. As if that was not absurd enough, once the 10 students frantically reached the EMU with soap, they were told that they had 15 minutes to take a picture on their new phones recreating a gaudy picture they were given of two brothers posed, holding hands. 15 minutes later the winners of that competition were awarded $1,000 and given plane tickets to Los Angeles.Click here to read full storyYou can read the full story.

For as big of a skeptic and cynic as I was (and am), it was a pretty cool event to witness. It was an off-the-wall, zany way to kick off the school year, and I was glad that I had gone to check it out-even though I am disappointed not to have made an Ellen sighting. Nonetheless, my sister is a big Ellen Show fan, so I was still able to brag about having seen Ellen's crew. Now will I actually watch the show when it airs? Probably not, but I do feel an odd desire to buy a Samsung Mobile phone.