In response to concerns from the administration, Undergraduate Students Association Council Facilities Commissioner PC Zai has proposed moving the starting location of the Undie Run to the Strathmore Drive tunnel.
The Undie Run, which currently starts at the northern intersection of Gayley and Landfair avenues, is a UCLA tradition in which students show up in their underwear at midnight on the Wednesday of finals week to run through campus.
From Strathmore Drive, the run would continue onto campus through Bruin Plaza and end at Shapiro Fountain near Royce Hall.
Last year, reports of vandalism, property damage and excessive noise led the university to redirect much of the run to campus and away from Westwood. Zai said the opening of the new Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center will result in Gayley Avenue being labeled an emergency medical route after June.
Thus, university police will no longer be able to shut down Gayley Avenue for the run, meaning the event must start elsewhere or risk being shut down.
The shift to the Strathmore tunnel would essentially move the run entirely onto campus, as Strathmore Drive is a university-controlled street.
Though Zai said she has worked with student groups such as The Den as well as representatives from on-campus housing in crafting her proposal, she said it may be difficult to convince students to change the run’s traditional starting point.
“Realistically, no one is actually in charge of (the Undie Run),” Zai said.
No group organizes the quarterly event; students have traditionally simply shown up.
Nancy Greenstein, director of police community services at UCPD, said she hoped students would work with UCPD and adapt to the changing security concerns surrounding the tradition.
Greenstein called the proposed change “a good step forward.”
Moving the event away from residential areas would reduce complaints by neighbors and make the run easier for police to control, she said.
But Greenstein added that the run would still technically be an illegal gathering without a city permit, and so would always run the risk of being shut down by the city of Los Angeles.
Students reported conflicting opinions about whether the route should be changed.
Mike Difronzo, a fourth-year biology student, said moving the run entirely on campus eliminates the fun of being seen by those on the Hill and in apartments.
“The whole point of (the run) is to have a lot of people see you,” he said.
But Stephen Matsuoka, a first-year undeclared student, said he agreed with regulating the event if there have been complaints.
“If (Undie Run) is at the point that it’s getting disruptive, then I think (administrators) have the right to place some limits on it,” he said.
Ultimately, the most important thing is preserving the event, Difronzo said.
“As long as they don’t stop it,” Difronzo said. “I’d do it no matter where they went.”