Upon walking into the Student Services office, students may see rubber ducks located on Administrative Assistant Ellie Rudolfi’s desk. Rudolfi sat down for a question and answer session regarding her collection.
Q: Why did you start your duck collection?
A: When my kids were little we would watch “Sesame Street.” My sons saw Bert and Ernie with their rubber ducky and that inspired them to want rubber ducks as well, which led me to begin collecting them. In about 1990, my collection started just with yellow ducks, but it has grown to much more than that now with different colored ducks and ducks with outfits.
Q: How many ducks do you have?
A: I currently have 212 ducks with me at school. Most of them are displayed on my desk, but there are some small ones and keychain ducks behind my desk that most people do not know about. I also have some at my house.
Q: Which duck is your favorite?
A: A small yellow one located on my desk. It is just a smaller version of a classic yellow rubber duck, but it lights up in the dark and does not take up much room.
Q: Why did you decide to bring your ducks to school?
A: One of the women at school remodeled her bathroom at home and I gave her a rubber duck as a gift. I told her that every bathroom needs a duck. Then we talked and I told her that I collect rubber ducks and she said, “Bring them in.” So I brought a few in and over the years, I have received many more from the students.
Q: What is the weirdest way in which you received one of your ducks?
A: All of the miniature yellow ducks that say “Dinner with Derek” on the bottom were given to me in a weird way. We had a teacher here who had a daughter and she was dating a guy named Derek. He invited her to prom by filling a whole bathtub with ducks. The teacher was cleaning and she started throwing the ducks out and her husband said, “Wait a minute, I know someone who will take them.” He just put 50 little ducks on my desk.
Q: What are you going to do with your duck collection when you stop working here?
A: I don’t know what I’m going to do with my ducks when I leave. I don’t want to take them all home. Maybe the highest bidder or something like that will receive them.