I sometimes wonder how effective stunts like this are.

About 10 years ago, I had a job opening the mail in an MBA admissions office. Most of the application was required to be filed online; the only exceptions were a transcript and two letters of reference. My job was to open the mail, file the allowable papers, and throw out everything else.

Easily 80% of the mail that came through the door went into the trash. People submitted all kinds of things, from hard copies of their entire application to photographs to fancy art portfolios. The first day was heartbreaking as I felt like I was throwing away people's life's work, but when I asked my boss for advice, she said it was a conscious decision on the part of the admissions committee: they didn't want to unfairly disadvantage people who followed their instructions.

After a while, this system made sense. More people tried stunts to bypass the regular admissions process than there were slots in the admitted class. Submitting banned supplemental material was less an indicator that someone was a creative thinker than that they'd read a book that said admissions stunts work.

Two small details that makes this truly fantastic: That it was addressed to the actual building (Rosenwald Hall) that Indiana would have worked (a lesser fanboy would have addressed it to the Oriental Museum) and that it has no ZIP code, since those would not be in use at that time (adopted starting from 1963).

Amazing.

Sadly, the author of this package was unaware that Dr. Jones was denied tenure, and is no longer on faculty.

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/back-from-yet-another-glo...

This is fun, I wish the notebook had a hand drawn picture of a Stargate in it :-) (I know I know, don't cross your franchises, always thought it would be an interesting in an Aliens Vs Predators sort of way to squeeze out another movie).

That this has happened now though, at a time when my college age daughter is being deluged with colleges trying to get her attention, suggests to me an attempt at a viral campaign by the admissions department to raise UChicago on the radar of prospective students.

I'd like to think this is the start of a particularly awesome admissions application.

Unfortunately, the consensus at this point is that it's actually the product from this ebay auction: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Indiana-Jones-and-the-Raiders-of-the...?

What likely happened is that this item was shipped but somehow came loose of its modern packaging, and the USPS delivered the themed mailer to UChicago per the address label.

Slightly off topic...however, the University of Chicago is also known for its quirky Scav Hunt (or Scavenger Hunt). So an Indiana Jones package is not altogether out of place.

http://www.uchicago.edu/features/20110501_scav/

  On what other campus could students be summoned to 
  assemble (in various iterations) a live elephant, a 
  nuclear breeder reactor, a life-sized battleship, a bust 
  of Abraham Lincoln made out of pennies, a book printed in 
  the American colonies before 1776, and the official 
  exorcist of the Archdiocese of Chicago?

There was even a documentary on it:

http://www.periphrastic.com/about.html

My first instinct was that this is the start of a viral game for a new Indiana Jones movie.

It belongs in a museum!

I'm not kidding. Or at least, mostly. They should put it on display.

When people ask why I chose UofC, I tell them it's because Indiana Jones went there.

Wow, nice calligraphy, I think its written using a soft nib pen. Also: Who is the "Guardian of the Ark"?

They went to all that trouble, and spelled Illinois wrong on the address label?

There are some websites out there that detail exactly how to make replica grail diaries. I think that answers the "How" question. Why they would do this though? I have no idea ;-)

I can't wait to find out if this was part of an application, or some other prank.

They should have mailed it to the Marx brothers.

…I'll see myself out.

So, the beginnings of an Alternate Reality Game, perhaps?

Paul T. Wall. Check it out!