Skull and Dagger strikes again


Secret honor society Skull and Dagger pulled yet another prank on USC students. At around 1 p.m., students congregated around Tommy Trojan in the hopes of winning Coachella tickets. A Facebook event announced that Program Board was giving away 10 Coachella tickets to the people with the best costumes, either individuals or teams.

After some waiting, the contestants looked up to the roof of Student Union across from Tommy Trojan to see a banner with a large skull being unfurled, revealing this was a prank by none other than Skull and Dagger.

About 50 people were dressed in elaborate costumes. There were mixed reactions from students who dressed up to win the fake Coachella tickets.

Davey Martinez, a junior majoring in music industry, dressed up in a complex balloon costume that covered practically his entire body, was not very happy with the prank.

“I am very, very upset. This is kind of messed up. I spent $40 I didn’t have to make this happen,” Martinez said. “Coachella is a little too big to mess around with people.”

Nick Davis, a junior majoring in narrative studies, was equally upset after he wore a wedding dress and veil to the event to try and win Coachella tickets. He thought he had a good chance of winning one of the tickets.

“I’m just really sad. I spent a lot of money. I spent $80 on my entire costume.”

Though some students were upset, others did think it was a funny prank.

“I think it’s a good joke and everyone is taking it too seriously,” said Chantae Reden, a sophomore majoring in political science.

18 replies
  1. Don't hate me, but...
    Don't hate me, but... says:

    …someone had to get all those hipster kids to make fools of themselves.

    Also, I’m totally with No-chella: what if you’d spent $40 on your costume and lost anyway? Would you still be mad? Look on the bright side: depending on your costume, you might end up with something to wear on Halloween.

  2. lisa
    lisa says:

    I thought it was funny. I was out there looking ridiculous, but hey they got me. Bravo skull and dagger!

  3. eric k
    eric k says:

    I am just going to explain this a little. To my knowledge Skull and Daggers tries to pull of a prank every year. Many fail and few succeed. This has been one of the better ones because no one was hurt, and it attracted a pretty funny looking crowd. They were clever in their approach to gather approx 100 participants. As a bystander I thought it was funny and epic, and many of my friends agreed. Some of the participants even applauded after they realized they had been pranked. I really do not see why people are agree. There was nothing wrong with this prank. Yes, they wasted 30 mins and $40 of a few students life’s, but in the grand scheme it was a great idea. As a sophomore, I hope that I can someday be inducted in the the prestigious society

  4. Steve Rogers
    Steve Rogers says:

    What this boils down to is just another group like DKA, people with delusions of grandeur that in truth is just a bunch of assholes.

  5. Sam K.
    Sam K. says:

    A “secret society?” Really? Nothing screams douchebags more than a “secret society.”

    “I’m so cool. I’m in a secret group no one else can know about.”

    Hey, grow the f*** up.

  6. Andres
    Andres says:

    Both Christopher Cheng and Nehi Ogbeoven former President and Vice president of USG were involved in this tasteless prank. One would expect a lot more from two important members of the Trojan Family. Skull and Dagger at USC is not a “Secret Society” is an Honor society. USG and Program Board have lost a lot of credibility with this affair and this is sad because it overshadows all the hard work by these two organizations.

  7. Mikey D
    Mikey D says:

    Best prank ever! Sure it would suck to have wasted some effort and money, but those people surely had fun making the costumes and thining about how awesome it would be to win. That’s why people buy lottery ticketes. Nice job to the organizers!

    • Steph
      Steph says:

      Completely tasteless and crude. Besides the costs spent, time was also wasted. Personally, I am not interested in going to Coachella, but for many people, it is something that they would love to experience. There is a much greater chance of winning these tickets than winning the lottery. Plus, if you win the lottery, you actually win something, so it is worth spending the money. No one even had a chance to win the tickets, because there weren’t even tickets at all.

  8. Sophia
    Sophia says:

    Hey Jim, why don’t you try looking outside of your realm of spoiled USC brats and consider that some of us are not able to afford $300 tickets?

  9. Jim
    Jim says:

    If you are so bummed that you spent money and lost it, why don’t you be less cheap next time and buy a Coachella ticket? Even if they are sold out, I got one on stubhub no problem. Whiners.

    • Lauren
      Lauren says:

      maybe because people can’t afford it, hense they’re going out for free tickets. and they’re even more expensive on stubhub.

  10. Sophia
    Sophia says:

    Also, I’m curious if this “Chantae” was a participant who put in the effort to make a costume. ‘I would think that this is “funny” if you didn’t waste time and money that you don’t have…

  11. Sophia
    Sophia says:

    I’m so disappointed in USC. My friend and I spent over $40 to create our costumes, and we are aware that many people spent even more money. We would like to see involved members of the program board and the administrators involved punished for this hoax.

    • No-chella
      No-chella says:

      Regardless of how much money an individual spent making their costume…at the end of the day there was ALWAYS a probability that you would walk away empty handed. I’m sure there were individuals who had costumes that were better than yours. Now would you have been as mad had the competition been real and you STILL lost? Or are you just mad because it was a prank?

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