My first assignment on the Milligan College Stampede was to cover a "G" that had gone missing from the Milligan sign. It had fallen off several months prior, but had just recently been replaced by an orange wooden "G". By a great streak of luck, I received a tip that allowed me to sit down and interview the person who had put up the orange "G". The report was hugely popular on the Stampede website, having received 374 views on the day of release. In a crazy twist of events, the entire word "college" went missing from the sign about a week later. I ended up writing a follow-up report.
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| Milos Petrovic in front of the Milligan sign just after the installation of his new "G." Photo courtesy of Milos Petrovic. |
A quick drive past the Milligan College entrance and you might notice an out of place letter. A “G” that has been missing for over a month has been replaced with a new, bright orange one.
Brent Nipper, director of property and risk management, says the original “G” disappeared sometime in the middle of December, and the new orange “G” likely appeared around January 15. Nipper said a search for the old “G” found nothing, and he has no idea who put up the orange “G”.
When asked what he thought of the orange “G”, Nipper smiled and called it a “good, harmless prank.”
Milos Petrovic, a junior basketball player, said that after noticing the missing letter sometime last semester, he and two of his teammates decided to “repair” the sign themselves.
A few weeks ago, Petrovic and his teammates picked up a wooden “G”, some orange acrylic paint, and some double-sided, outdoor mounting tape at Wal-Mart. Petrovic said they painted the letter in the Wal-Mart parking lot before attaching it to the Milligan sign around midnight.
Petrovic said a lot of thoughts were going through his head that night. Along with the obvious: “Will I get in trouble?”, he called it a “win-win situation.”
Petrovic told us that if Milligan were to take the “G” down, they would have to put a new one up. If they did not remove it, there would still be a “G” on the sign.
Students have had generally positive reactions to Petrovic’s orange “G” replacement. Freshman Drew Doehring said, “Leave it on ‘til it falls off. It’s kind of cool because one of the students took the time to make one to show their support of the school.”
Jeanette Hartsough, a sophomore, said, “It’s a little ghetto. It makes me laugh every time I see it.” Unlike Doehring, she wants a matching “G” replacement as opposed to the current orange one.
Milligan is in fact planning on repairing the sign in the near future. Brent Nipper told us that the letter has remained missing for so long due to the difficulty of contacting the sign company during the holiday season.
Nipper said Snyder Signs is currently creating a new “G” that will likely arrive by the end of January. The new “G” will be matched with the faded color of the other letters on the sign.
But what will happen to the orange “G” when the new one arrives? As for Milos Petrovic, he hopes to get his letter back.
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| Three letters went missing Friday leaving the Milligan sign “college-less”. |
The Milligan College sign is now left “college-less” after more letters went missing over the weekend.
We first told you last week about a student’s “repair” to the sign using his own wooden lettering after a “G” went missing from the sign. Now, three more letters have gone missing.
In order to keep the sign looking nice, Brent Nipper, director of property and risk management, told us that the letters were moved around and the word “college” was removed.
Considering the age of the sign and that no letters had gone missing before, Nipper said it was likely that they were stolen.
The current Milligan College sign was first erected in 1974.
As of yet, no police investigation has been undertaken, but Nipper says that it may be a possibility if more vandalism occurs.
The orange Milligan “G” has not disappeared however. The “G” is currently in the Physical Plant in the office of Ken Broyles, facilities service manager. Brent Nipper said that there are currently no plans for what they will do with the orange “G”.
Milligan is meeting tomorrow with Snyder Signs in Johnson City to discuss their options for repairing the sign. Nipper said they are trying to decide whether it would be best to re-letter the sign as it is or to put up a new type of sign on the current structure to make it harder to steal letters.
Any new sign would likely look very similar to the current one, Nipper said.
Nipper is asking anyone who may have information as to who is taking the letters to contact him or the Dean of Students’ office.
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