Tennessee Professor Hides Cash Prize Inside Syllabus ... But No One Read It

A Tennessee professor hid clues for winning a cash prize inside a syllabus for one of his classes, but there was a problem — none of his students read it.

Kenyon Wilson, the associate head of performing arts at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, chose to have some fun with his students at the start of the semester by hiding a clue to a cash prize in his class syllabus to see if anyone actually read the whole thing.

"It is an academic trope that no one reads the syllabus," he told CNN. "It's analogous to the terms and conditions when you're installing software, everyone clicks that they've read it when no one ever does."

While his syllabus typically stays the same, the university added information about its COVID-19 protocol and other legal matters. Wilson made sure to tells his students that there were some changes to the syllabus and they should read it.

If a student were to fully read the syllabus, they would have seen this hint: "Thus (free to the first who claims; locker one hundred forty-seven; combination fifteen, twenty-five, thirty-five), students may be ineligible to make up classes and ..." The clue would lead them to a locker with $50 and handwritten note congratulating whoever was lucky enough to get the to prize first.

It wouldn't be until the end of the semester, after final exams, that Wilson would check the locker and find that the prize was still in place.

"Everyone was guilty of having absolutely no idea it was in there," said Haley Decker, a recent graduate and one of Wilson's students. "We all admitted we briefly skimmed the part of the syllabus because that policy is in every syllabus for every class you take."

She added, "I think this was a really smart experiment for Dr. Wilson to test out. It definitely made the music students realize that despite repetitive information you should still read through your syllabus carefully."

Even though no one claimed his prize this semester, Wilson thinks his hidden gem may inspire other educators and spark a wave of treasure hunts across the country next year.

"Perhaps spring 2022 will be the most well-read syllabi ever."