The short-lived but tremendously popular UCLA tradition known as Undie Run will no longer be allowed to continue the way it has in years past, school officials said Tuesday.
The event, which normally gleans between 3,000 and 7,000 patrons, has tentatively been rendered unsuitable due to safety and cost concerns.
Large numbers of non-UCLA students at the event, the overlapping stretches of the Undie Run and UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center ambulance routes, and the substantial cost of repairing damages incurred to the campus during the event were among the concerns mentioned by Robert Naples, associate vice chancellor and dean of students.
“The numbers continue to grow dramatically. An overwhelming number of the people who are involved are not UCLA students. … They may be students at another college. We get a lot of USC students, we get a lot of community college students, we get a lot of people who are not students. We get a lot of gawkers … and so that’s a big problem,” Naples said.
Since it replaced Midnight Yell as the predominant finals week party tradition, Undie Run has cost the university tens of thousands of dollars in staffing and repair fees, with students frequently causing damage to the fountains, lawns and buildings ranging from a couple thousand to over $10,000 on some occasions, he said. The fact that Undie Run takes place at least three times each year ““ some unsuccessful attempts have been made at organizing the event during the summer ““ magnifies the financial burden the university bears as a consequence of the tradition, Naples added.
While university police and other staff are often present to keep things under control, their focus is generally to prevent individuals from harming themselves, others or campus property; their goal is not necessarily to make arrests, said Nancy Greenstein, director of community service for UCPD.
“It is difficult to estimate rates of criminal activity, because our officers try to disperse the crowds rather than make arrests,” she said.
In a joint interview, Naples and Greenstein explained that throughout the tradition’s short history, routes, times and other logistical specifics have changed in response to university complaints about student and campus safety.
“We have worked with student leaders to figure out solutions to the problems we’ve had with this in the past, and they’ve all been very cooperative. We are hoping we can find new ways to make this work.”
While members of the undergraduate student government expressed empathy for administrators and their concerns, many said they are confident that an agreement that would allow the Undie Run tradition to continue could be reached.
“You can’t really cancel Undie Run because, I mean, what are they going to do, put up a rope? This is a UCLA tradition,” said Homaira Hosseini, president of the undergraduate student association council. “I urge students to take ownership of this, realize that it is a tradition, and that they should come talk to us.”
Hosseini also said she hopes students will come forward and be involved in the process of finding a solution to keep the tradition alive.
Others were quick to point out that an authoritative cancelation of the event could not even take place, because no single group or individual is responsible for organizing this organic campus tradition.
“Because the university doesn’t put it on, there is no canceling of Undie Run. It’s just a UCLA phenomenon. We’ve always known they want to keep the damage to a minimum, but they’re not going to cancel it,” said Galen Roth, USAC facilities commissioner. “I support Undie Run. I want to see it continue. I see it as a big part of UCLA, its campus and its traditions, and I will work with administrators throughout the year to make sure that it continues.”
Campus administrators were also forthcoming about the limitations of their abilities to direct or control the behavior of students and how they conduct the tradition.
“No, it’s not an event that the university sponsors, but it’s on the campus, we know about it, and we’re trying to be sensitive about this,” Naples said, explaining that he believes students are in a much better position than administrators to collaborate on a workable solution.
Former USAC president Gabe Rose was also very confident that students and university officials would be able to reach a solution without much hassle.
“These are all issues we’ve discussed extensively. Undie Run has been moved twice to entirely different routes because the students have been responsive to the administration’s requests,” he said. “In my year (as president) the leadership in USAC worked with the administration. It is my understanding that this conversation has been ongoing.”