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(CNN) -
With each new college semester, students are faced with multiple syllabi that describe the subjects in their classes.
But do students read them carefully?
A professor from Tennessee put him to the test.
Kenyon Wilson is the associate director of performing arts at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and decided to include an Easter egg in the curriculum of his music seminar class last semester.
The suggestion read, "Therefore (free for first-time claim; locker one hundred and forty-seven; combination fifteen, twenty-five, thirty-five), students may not be eligible to make up classes and ...".
This would have led the students to a locker containing a $ 50 bill, available to the first student to find it.
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But at the end of the semester, when he went to check the locker, the ticket was still there.
The $ 50 prize along with a congratulatory note hidden in a locker on campus.
"It's an academic trope that no one reads the syllabus," Wilson told CNN.
"It's analogous to the terms and conditions when you're installing software, everyone clicks they've read it when no one else does."
The class consisted of 71 students.
Wilson told CNN that his syllabus generally doesn't change much, but that with the covid-19 protocols there was some new information this time.
"There is a standard repeating text that does not change. The university makes us put a lot of legal material towards the end," added Wilson.
"But the first day of class I told them that there were things that had changed and to make sure they read them."
When Wilson put the reward in the locker, he left a note inside that said "Congratulations! Please leave your name and date so we know who found it."
He also made sure to put the combination lock with a certain number in the noon position, to determine if any students had tampered with the lock, but the combination was never turned.
"I had high hopes and would be just as happy to have this conversation if one of my students had found it in the first week."
Wilson told CNN.
Wilson waited until they took their final exams and the semester ended before going through the locker.
He disclosed the unclaimed cash in a Facebook post.
He tells CNN that the students have been "honorable" about it.
The note Professor Kenyon Wilson left with the cash in the locker.
Haley Decker, a recent college graduate, took Wilson's seminar for the past 3 1/2 years and was one of the students who couldn't find the hidden money last semester.
"Honestly, I thought it was hilarious."
Decker told CNN.
"This class generally has the same format each semester, so students know what to expect and don't take the time to read the syllabus as we should."
Decker said she texted a group of friends who were in class with her and they all thought it was a smart move by Wilson.
"I think this was a really smart experiment for Dr. Wilson to try," Decker said.
"It definitely made music students realize that despite the repetitive information, they still need to read the syllabus carefully."
The teacher points out that it was all a lot of fun.
"I know my students read, and I don't expect them to religiously go over it word for word, but if they did, I wanted to reward them."
Wilson told CNN.
"They were all guilty of having no idea what was there."
Decker said.
"We all admit that we briefly examine that part of the syllabus because that policy is in every syllabus in every class you take."
Wilson's Facebook post not only sparked a reaction from students, it also gave other professors and teachers across the country an idea.
"Spring 2022 may be the most widely read syllabus in history."
Wilson pointed out.
