I have learned over the years that college students, for the most part, rarely uspect that their teacher would try and pull an April Fool’s Day prank; after all, we are professionals 
That leaves college students vulnerable to someone like me who ranks April Fool’s Day as one of his favorite days of the year.
Here is the email I sent out to my students this morning:
Greetings,
I am writing to share some exciting news with you and to ask for your assistance.
As many of you may know, I am a big fan of Anna Kendrick, and have written about her a few times on my blog, as evidenced by this post:
http://www.jborden.com/this-was-almost-more-than-i-could-handle/
Well as it turns out, Anna’s next movie is coincidentally titled “The Accountant”, starring Anna and Ben Affleck – you can read a bit about the movie here at IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140479/
The directors wanted to have one scene take place at a college, and Anna and Ben apparently said that they would search through their Twitter followers to see if anyone happened to be an accounting teacher – and you guessed it – my name came up!
Anna did a little bit more searching, and came across my blog posts that mentioned her, and decided to reach out to me to see if it would be possible to have one of the movie scenes take place at Nova!
Long story short, after many discussions back and forth between our administration and the producers and director, it is a go.
While I unfortunately will not be playing the role of the professor (I guess my face isn’t screen friendly enough), they did ask if I could get some students to be in the classroom while the scene is being filmed (sorry, no speaking parts).
So this is where my request comes in; I need 30 students who would be able to take about six hours out of their day on Sunday, April 17 to help shoot this scene.
This is essentially on a first-come, first serve basis, except for the fact that it needs to be an equal split between men and women.
And yes, in case you were wondering, Ben and Anna will be at the shoot (notice how quickly I’ve picked up the Hollywood lingo).
So if you are interested, here is the link to sign up:
http://www.jborden.com/sign-up-sheet-for-the-accountant/
Thank you for your assistance, and Go Nova!
Prof. Borden
I thought the whole premise of the email was a bit fantastical, and that the students would see right through it. Well, apparently not.
If you check the link to where you are to sign-up for this alleged opportunity:
http://www.jborden.com/sign-up-sheet-for-the-accountant,
it says Gotcha! Happy April Fools’ Day! However, if you scroll down to the comments, you will notice that several students opted to sign-up, and this is after seeing the Happy April Fools’ Day image! (Initially the page just said Happy April Fools’ Day, but after getting several of these sign-ups, I added the Gotcha! to the top to try and make it more obvious.)
I also received several emails from students who did not bother to click on the link to sign-up, but just wrote back to me saying they were interested in volunteering.
Here’s a sample of those emails:
Hi Dr. Borden! Unfortunately I won’t be able to participate but I wanted to reach out and say how awesome this is! Very very cool! Hopefully they’ll let you make a cameo appearance! Have a great weekend and Go Cats!
Hi Prof Borden, I’m no longer a student, I graduated last May, but I’m still in the area. I would be happy to participate!
Prof. Borden, This sounds amazing! Currently I’m living in FL, but I have that weekend off of work and I almost had a ticket to come up that weekend (but my bf will be out of state with his work so plans were cancelled). I can’t believe I have to pass this opportunity up, but if I ever make a film requiring a professor I will extend the offer first to you. Thank you for all you do. Next time I’m on campus, I’ll pay you a visit. PS. If for some reason you don’t get 15 girls clamoring for the opportunity, let me know. I’ll find a way up.
Professor Borden, That is very amazing that you made this happen. I am definitely interested in helping shoot the scene if you still need more students. Let me know!
But fortunately there were several students that appreciated the prank, as evidenced by the following emails:
Professor Borden, This is both the cruelest and greatest thing that has ever happened to me! Good one!! GO CATS!
Professor Borden, This is hilarious! I laughed so hard when I realized it was an April Fools joke because you got me good! Just wanted to send an appreciation email because that was very funny! I hope you have a nice weekend — Go Cats!
Dr. Borden, I wholeheartedly believed this. Great work, honestly the best April fools joke I’ve ever come across haha. Have a great day! 🙂
You got me!
I can’t believe I fell for that.
Good one Professor Borden! You really got me.
You got me good professor!
Well played Professor, well played.
Hi Professor, You got me real good professor. Real good!
Dr. Borden, Well done! Have a good weekend!
This deeply saddened me! But I guess it was a great joke.
Savage move Borden.
And here’s the reply I got from the person in Florida, whose initial response was up above, after I wrote to tell her that she needed to click the link at the end of the email to get all of the details:
You are THE WORST. Haha Also, this was an amazing April fools prank. Best one all day, but the day is young. I hope your students or children get you back today.
Well none of my students or children got me, but when I came home from work, my wife was walking down the steps with a crutch, and I thought she had injured herself. But no, April Fools.
If you’ve read this far, and want to read the prank I did on my students last year, here is the link: http://www.jborden.com/another-april-fools-day-prank/
Happy April 1!
P.S. One student thought I had made up the whole movie premise as well, and I had to convince her that “The Accountant” was a real movie. I’m sure it will be a blockbuster.
Borden's Blather 
I can see how they fell for it. Your scenario wasn’t over the top. It would’ve convinced me.
Good job, Prof!
LikeLike
Thanks Suzy!
LikeLike
Crack me up….
LikeLike
Thanks Steve; glad you liked it.
LikeLike