By Elana Simpson, Contributing Writer
Photo by Lauren Morse, Photographer

I’m not a native of Mobile, or even Alabama, so my first brush with toilet papering came about three years ago. I was amazed to drive around my new-to-me neighborhood and see several houses sporting their toilet paper wedding dresses. I was both intrigued and completely confused because my only encounter with anything like this was from 1980s movies, where it felt like an urban legend. Everyone seemed to have a cousin who had a best friend whose sister knew someone that had their house toilet-papered. And there I was, seeing it firsthand. It felt like I was witnessing a myth come to life.

Fast forward and I find myself at South, watching students and faculty alike decorating the campus traffic circle with toilet paper streamers. Okay, I admit I threw a roll or five… and I experienced the moment of pride when a streamer of toilet paper finally lodged in a tree. I definitely see the appeal. However, I couldn’t help but wonder how this tradition came about.

I found several groups of student government representatives gleefully handing out toilet paper. I asked, but no one seemed to know when this tradition began, who exactly started it and why it was chosen to mark the beginning of homecoming week festivities. But more importantly, no one seemed to care. It’s a tradition that is more than a decade old and kicks off homecoming week with a spirit of unity. However, a quick Google search showed me that the tradition started in 2009 when South launched its football program.

Paige Perry, an enterprising student government officer, created “Junk the Jungle.” According to AL.com, it is her “proudest accomplishment while [at South]”. She took inspiration from a prankster that toilet papered parts of the campus in 2006 while painting messages like “NCAA” and “We want football.” The original pranksters’ names seem to be lost in history, but let’s tip our hats to the people that started a much loved tradition.

For anyone who had more failure than success, I was advised there is a strategy. You roll about 3 feet of paper from the roll and toss as straight up as you can. Don’t try holding the end in order to get longer streamers as the paper is likely to break. Most importantly, grab one or a few hundred friends and have fun.

The boxes of toilet paper are supplied by the Student Government Association and the paper selected is eco-friendly and biodegradable. Although Mother Nature can be relied upon to take care of the after-effects, she gets a lot of help from students and staff through their cleaning efforts. All in all, Junk the Jungle was a great way to kick off Homecoming Week 2024, fitting perfectly with the theme of “Timeless Traditions.”