SMU’s newest fountain came bubbling to life at 9 p.m. Sunday night, as students gathered around the Val and Frank Late Fountain in front of the Dedman Life Sciences Building to witness the spewing of bubbles emerge from the colored water.
“It was like it was snowing,” explained Brent Paxton. “Every time the wind blew [the bubbles] would break up into little pieces and completely saturate the air.”
As students crowded around the oval structure, a cloud of bubbles began surrounding the edge of the fountain, slowly spreading onto the sidewalk. The fountain, which showcases a variety of colored lights, was turned off around 9 p.m. as students began congregating to witness what one student is calling a comical form of vandalism.
“As soon as I opened the front door of the Multicultural House, I saw bubbles everywhere in the air,” said Paxton, a junior Community Assistant in the SMU Multicultural House. “[Bubbles] were flying around cars in the intersection. It’s vandalism, but it was so funny because students were playing in the bubbles.”
Paxton, who was leaving his residency to meet a friend, said there were not clean up crews in the area during the prank. Other residents in the Multicultural House say the fountain was finally shut off around 10:30 p.m.
“There was a girl and boy playing in the bubbles and some other group of students sitting on the benches watching,” said Paxton, a Cinema-Television, International studies and journalism triple major, “There were so many bubbles, that you couldn’t stop and stare. I had to join in. It was too much fun!
According to SMU Police Reports, the incident was reported at 9:41 p.m., but there are currently no suspects.
“There were only about seven people there,” explained Paxton. “No one seemed suspicious, though. I’m guessing there’s got to be a camera somewhere around there to see who did it. I’m just hoping it didn’t cause any damage.”
The Val and Frank Late Fountain was dedicated on March 5 as a gift from Valeria Late in conjunction with SMU’s Second Century Campaign.
