It’s the stuff of nightmares; showing up underdressed to a once-in-a-lifetime event.
On the weekend before his graduation, Indiana University senior Brady Sutton found he was dangerously close to that nightmare becoming reality, when he realized his cap and gown had been snatched right off his apartment complex porch.
“I guess some porch pirate is gonna be joining our graduation ceremony,” Sutton said.
The 21-year-old computer science major had done everything right; he’d placed his order with IU regalia provider Herff Jones more than a month in advance, filled out his contact information and waited patiently for his package to arrive ahead of the big day.
But as his final semester wound down and the days till his May 10 graduation dwindled, no package arrived.
When April became May, Sutton started panicking. He checked his school email account for tracking info; no email. He looked in his personal account, his spam folders: nothing.
That’s when he called Herff Jones for help. The supplier was able to locate his order and tracking number, only to come across a disquieting truth; Sutton’s package had been delivered weeks ago, just a day after he placed the order. And a photo receipt from the mail carrier showed it dropped at the bottom floor of his complex, three floors below Sutton’s upper unit.
When Sutton went to look for the package, it was gone.
“I figured even if someone stole it, they’d open it up, realize it was useless for them, and put it back,” Sutton says. “I’m really curious how that’s useful to them?”
After filing a police report, a last-minute package saves the day
With a little over a week until graduation, Sutton started scrambling for options. He started looking for cheap online alternatives, only to learn IU forbids non-official caps and gowns at the commencement ceremony.
He asked Herff Jones to send another, but they said their hands were tied since his package had been successfully delivered. Finally, they offered to send a replacement if Sutton went down to the police station and filed an official theft report.
And file a report he did. On Thursday, May 8, Sutton received his cap and gown, not a moment too soon. He made sure to rescue the package from the porch as soon as he got the email.
Already, the graduation theft is becoming a funny story to Sutton and his friends; a last-minute entry into their canon of undergraduate misadventures.
“You can’t have anything in Bloomington!” Sutton joked.
Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Graduation nightmare: Indiana University senior reports his cap and gown stolen
Reporting by Brian Rosenzweig, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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