Proposed changes to the Undie Run route do not sit well with
some students planning to participate in this quarter’s Undie
Run, especially since the administration’s involvement in
making the changes marks the first time the university has
seriously intervened in the historically student-run event.
Traditionally, students gather at the corner of Gayley and
Landfair avenues at midnight the Wednesday of finals week and run,
wearing only their underwear, to the corner of Glenrock and
Levering avenues.
However, in response to the administration’s increasing
concerns about the safety of the event, a committee of student
leaders and administrators recently proposed a new route that
begins in the same place but proceeds down Gayley Avenue into De
Neve Plaza, down Bruin Walk, and ends in Bruin Plaza.
“It’s been a tradition to run off campus, and we
should continue doing that,” said first-year undeclared
student Brian Gay. “I’m looking forward to
participating (this quarter), and I really would rather run the
traditional route.”
While many students said they had similar thoughts about the new
route, a few said they thought moving the run on campus could be a
positive thing.
“I actually think it would be fun,” said Margo
Schaedel, a second-year communication studies student. “It
would make it more campus-oriented.”
The Undie Run began several years ago as a replacement for
Midnight Yell, a finals week event that spiraled out of control to
include burning furniture in the streets, and was eventually shut
down by the On Campus Housing Commission and university police.
Until now, the administration has avoided that kind of
involvement with the Undie Run, but as it has gotten bigger, the
administration and university police have gotten more
concerned.
“The bottom line is to make sure that health and safety
trumps everything,” said Berky Nelson, director of the Center
for Student Programming. “(The safety concerns) have been
building up, but the last Undie Run put it over the top. My
impression is that it’s too dangerous to go on
unfettered.”
Nelson said this year was the first time students did not
disperse when asked by police, and that witnesses observed cars
trying to nudge their way through students.
No particular group organizes the Undie Run. Instead, students
simply show up to the traditional starting location and begin
running at midnight.
Because the run happens off campus and is not organized by a
university-sponsored group, the university technically does not
have jurisdiction over it. However, Nelson said the safety concerns
have become significant enough that the university feels obligated
to intervene.
Some students expressed concern that the administration is
becoming more involved in historically student-run events.
“It’s a student tradition, and the administration
shouldn’t get involved,” said third-year history and
geography student Seth Wulkan. “It’s about finding a
balance between keeping something unique and (dealing with) the
safety issues.”
Gay agreed, adding that he thought more administrative
involvement could change the atmosphere of the run.
“I see the merits of it being safer, but then it becomes
something the university sponsors,” he said.
“It’s less individualistic.”
However, Nelson stressed the importance of student leadership
over administrative intervention in changing the nature of events
like the Undie Run.
“Students were instrumental in shutting down Black
Sunday,” he said. “The reason we don’t have Black
Sunday anymore is the students, not the administration.”
Black Sunday, the Sunday before classes started each fall when
fraternities threw large parties, was shut down in 2002 by the
Interfraternity Council after Westwood residents complained of
traffic and crime problems.
Wulkan also said he thought the new route might actually create
new problems, especially for students living in De Neve Plaza who
might be disturbed by the noise.
“De Neve residents didn’t ask for that,” he
said.
However, some administrators said they thought additional noise
in De Neve Plaza was a small price to pay for controlling the Undie
Run.
“The inconvenience to De Neve Plaza residents pales in
comparison to the health and safety issues,” Nelson said.
But students said while they are not necessarily happy about the
new route or about the administration’s involvement in its
creation, they still plan to participate in the next run.
“If they’re going to make us run the new route,
we’ll do it,” said first-year mechanical engineering
student Brett Rosenthal.
“But if it’s too structured, it’s going to
take away from the spontaneity and fun of it.”