Eggcellent or unclean — Easter egg roll controversy  

Every Easter, Logan residents participate in an egg roll on Old Main Hill. But what started out as a fun event for kids has turned into a mess two days in the making, according to J.D. Armentrout.  

As a graduate student at Utah State University, Armentrout has been aware of the egg roll for years.  

“You can’t miss it in the springtime,” Armentrout said. “It’s always been an issue students have always had concerns about it.” 

After the egg roll, Old Main Hill is littered with broken eggs, flies, maggots and birds. 

Eggs were piled up at the trunks of several trees on Old Main Hill after the egg roll event on April 17. 

“I don’t think that’s what the USU brand is about. Trashing the campus or allowing our campus to be trashed,” Armentrout said.  

When he attended the event this year, Armentrout said he didn’t see many students show up — and yet, it detracts from the student experience, particularly those who want to spend the end of their semester out on the quad.  

“What I see out there is mostly adults flinging them and they’re not just throwing them at the grass and they’re throwing them in the trees,” Armentrout said. “If we’re going to continue condoning or allowing this tradition, then provide a suitable location for it that doesn’t conflict with student use or damage to the university.”  

According to a poll done by The Utah Statesman Instagram page, out of 365 students, 356 did not participate in the egg roll.  

The egg roll isn’t on the USU events calendar and is not a university event. According to Armentrout, it isn’t sanctioned by anyone either. It’s something that simply spread by word of mouth. 

Scraps of eggs and trash were spread across Old Main Hill after the annual egg roll event on April 17.

“It’s always been a tradition,” said Shane Richards, the manager for Landscape Operations and Management, or LOAM. “It’s a huge event and it’s something we are aware of.”  

According to Richards, cleaning up the eggs takes roughly 30-40 hours. Removing eggs from trees and higher places takes longer, Richards said. The LOAM team usually ends up power washing the Old Main Hill Ampitheater to remove smelly egg remnants.  

“It’s a fun activity for the town, but it’s good to be respectful,” Richards said. “There’s always someone who has to clean it up.” 

Students on the landscaping team end up cleaning it, according to Richards, but each year is a little different. Sometimes birds clean up the eggs — but Richards said this year is not one of those years.  

According to Armentrout, the egg roll is not only smelly, but unsightly. Families and new students come to USU after Easter and the first thing they see on the hill are eggs.  

“Every year the students roll in. Like today, first thing this morning, people start rolling into their lab groups or into their classes and they’re like, ‘Hey, what was up with what was up with Old Main this morning?’” Armentrout said. “It pops up every year but again, for whatever reason, it’s not really on the university’s radar or a part of their priority.” 

USU students avoid walking on the rotting eggs left on the west steps of Old Main Hill.

Armentrout suggests the university to provide some management for the event or change the location, so it’s not the first thing students, faculty and visitors see. Until then, students will continue walking by rotting eggs on the steps of Old Main. 

Photos by Bailey Rigby.