Students at Tufts University who are used to running around naked have now been stripped of the tradition.

Tufts University President Lawrence Bacow decided on March 14 to cancel the annual Naked Quad Run because of safety concerns and the inability to manage the event, according to an article published in The Tufts Daily on March 14.

The university cannot allow a student to die from the tradition and had to stop the run before that happened, Bacow said in the article.

The Naked Quad Run marked the end of fall semester classes and the start of the reading period and finals, when Tufts students — typically nude — ran around the residential quad in the late night hours, said Kim Thurler, director of public relations for Tufts. The run usually lasts about an hour.

The official name of the university-sanctioned portion of the event is called the Nighttime Quad Reception, according to the Naked Quad Run Facebook page.

Thurler said injuries such as cuts, sprains and other falling injuries, as well as alcohol abuse, are frequent sights at the event.

‘A number of students drank to excess sometimes, requiring hospitalization for dangerous levels of blood alcohol,’ Thurler said.

The university has tried in the past to make the event safer for the runners. Barriers were built to keep spectators away from runners, Thurler said.

Other precautions by the university included hay bales and a salted, sanded course. Student organizations joined the event to give food to those who might be running and drinking on an empty stomach, Thurler said.

Thurler said students are now working to create an alternative event that will have the support of the university.

Sam Wallis, president of the Tufts Community Union Senate, said the university supported the event, but also tried to change the focus from the naked run to a celebration about the end of classes. The senate members represent undergraduate students and the administration.

Wallis said there are several rumors about the birth of the Naked Quad Run, which started in the late 1970s.

One rumor claims it started as an effort by the separate men’s and women’s colleges to integrate. Another rumor claims members of an outdoor group wanted to express themselves, he said. However, Wallis said, no student truly knows.

Wallis said the senate members are going to holding a competition to replace the event. Wallis believes current students have the potential to create a new event and a new tradition, he said. The senate is contacting alumni for new ideas, and Wallis said he sees the potential for creativity.

No students were involved in the final decision to end the Naked Quad Run, Wallis said. There was a fight to maintain the event, but there was no vote taken, he said. Wallis said the final decision came from Bacow with input from several different people.

Students at Tufts were upset the event was canceled because they see it as a unique event, said Wallis, who was also disappointed the event was canceled.

‘I thought hard with a counterpart of mine that did the programming part of it,’ he said. ‘And both of us fought to keep it and thought of ways to keep it safer.’

hasimon@syr.edu

Published on March 22, 2011 at 12:00 pm