“Emergency preparedness starts with you.”
At least that’s what you would have heard if you were walking through the quad on April 30.
It was shouted by a circle of students playing duck-duck-goose in the grass area at noon that day.
This game was part of University Police Department’s (UPD) “Operation: Duck,” which was a community outreach event focused on emergency preparedness education.
UPD stresses the importance of the website, and emphasized this by giving away several T-shirts at the event with the emergency website listed on the back. They also had “Get your ducks in a row before things get ‘fowl’” printed on them.
“The purpose of the event was to raise awareness,” said Amy Biggs, Parking and Support Services Supervisor at UPD. “We have already seen a lot of students wearing these shirts around campus and we love it.”
How did they get all this attention? Well, right at the strike of 11 a.m., “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea played over the speakers. Four “villains” disguised as ducks danced out to the center of the quad.
These four included students Tyler Barker (junior, Business), Dustin Baisdon (junior, Business), Laney Ribota (sophomore, Business) and Cameron Jackson (senior, Theatre). The commotion drew dozens of students to their booth.
“It was a ducking good time,” Timothy Jarrett (freshman, Kinesiology) said.
The music cut to a loop of the “Bad Boys” theme song and the flash mob ensued. Several students were acting out potentially threatening situations through dance.
“The flash mob, duck masks, and the ‘Duck, Duck, YOU’ game were great tools to spark the students’ curiosity,” Bigg said.
“The students could ask what the ducks were about and that opened the door for the UPD to talk about the importance of Emergency Preparedness.”
Two UPD Outreach Student Assistants planned and coordinated the event. Peer-to-peer education is a top priority for UPD.
“Students are the pulse of university and we can’t think of anyone better than students to help us communicate critical information to their peers,” Bigg said.
So what’s the deal with the duck paraphernalia? Amy Bigg explains the ‘fowl’ sight.
“The event was duck-themed for the purpose of associating the familiar – ducks – with the unfamiliar – being prepared,” Bigg said.
“Most of us know we should prepare for emergencies and don’t do anything about it.  Hopefully, the association will get people thinking and, more importantly, take action and education themselves.”
Sad you missed out on the mayhem? Bigg promises the students will see more of UPD in the future.
In the meantime, visit the UPD website for more information at csustan.edu/upd. To make sure you’re in the know about emergencey situations, visit csustan.edu/emergency/ENS.
“As a graduate of CSU Stanislaus, I am very passionate about safety outreach and educating students,” Bigg said. “As your police department, we will continue to utilize creative, interesting and thought-provoking ways to inform students on important issues.”