As anticipated, UCLA administrators and representatives from the undergraduate student government decided upon a new route for this Wednesday’s Undie Run, which administrators said was previously unsafe and in need of revision.
Students will no longer finish their brief, bare-skinned bolt in the fountain outside Royce Hall, members of the Undergraduate Students Association Council announced Thursday.
According to Facilities Commissioner Galen Roth and General Representative James Birks, the route will still begin at the intersection of Gayley Avenue and Strathmore Drive.
Students will run east on Strathmore Drive and turn north on Westwood Plaza, headed toward Bruin Plaza. However, instead of then charging up Bruin Walk toward Powell Library, students will be directed west to the Intramural Field.
“We chose the IM field because it’s a large, contained, well-lit space,” said Birks, who along with Roth held several meetings with Director of Police Community Services Nancy Greenstein and Robert Naples, associate vice chancellor and dean of students.
Before the decision was reached, Naples and Greenstein had both expressed concerns about a number of aspects of the way the event has been conducted in the past.
Problems with large numbers of non-UCLA participants, damage to campus property and the financial impact of the event, which can cost the university tens of thousands of dollars in staffing and repairs, were among the issues raised.
The new route, Roth said, is a plan that both campus administrators and student leaders hope will help resolve some of those issues.
“I don’t think this is the solution, but it’s a start to get a grip on some of those issues,” Birks said.
Student leaders were quick to point out that while the new route may be a step toward settling the ongoing contention surrounding the tradition, it does not address many of the most serious of administrators’ concerns.
Though the Intramural Field is a contained location in which students can congregate, the decision to change the route does nothing to prevent the attendance of non-UCLA students, or to curtail the use of alcohol by many participating students. Administrators said alcohol use is sometimes the cause of injuries to participants who choose to do the run while intoxicated.
“There really isn’t anything, short of scanning BruinCards at the entrances to the field, that we can do about non-UCLA students showing up,” Birks said.
But Greenstein was clear that the revised plan is not at all permanent. She expects future revisions and changes will be necessary to fully address the problems.
While she did not wish to speculate on how students who do not comply with the new route will be handled, Greenstein said plans for winter quarter’s Undie Run are still on the table.
“In the big picture, the students are trying to save the tradition and make it safe for everyone involved. But in this time of severe budget cuts, we have to look for ways to limit the cost to the university.”
Student leaders said that they are hopeful that students will be cooperative and patient with the recent and ongoing changes.
They also said good behavior on the part of the student body during the event would go a long ways toward convincing administrators that the event should be allowed to continue taking place each quarter.
“We’re hoping that students will understand that this is a solution to the administration’s concerns, and that the route change is a way to save the tradition,” Roth said.
“But if anything big happens at Undie Run, they’re for sure going to pull the plug.”