Submitted by: Asad Ramzanali
I’m sure you’ve heard about the cancellation of what has become nothing less than a Bruin tradition: Undie Run. Yet, I feel that as a student at UCLA, it is my duty to voice my personal opposition to the decision. Undie Run is no longer just a small voicing of rebellion as it was when it started a few years go. It has become a movement.
Other schools have copied our example, and now UCLA’s Undie Run has become a tradition that Bruin students take pride in. In a few short years, Undie Run became noticeably bigger than the Jazz Reggae Festival, Spring Sing and even Dinner for 12 Strangers ““ UCLA traditions steeped in history which advertise well and are formally planned and organized.
The student body at UCLA deserves Undie Run. It’s our thing. Administrators have a duty to protect us and make sure we’re safe, and therefore I think there should be thought put into how (not whether) Undie Run can sustainably continue. At UCLA, we have some of the world’s smartest students, administrators and faculty within our 417 acres and you’re telling me we can’t figure out how to make Undie Run safer?
I think it’s a lack of effort, to be honest. I understand student leaders have tried to work with the administration on this issue in the past and that there have been multiple reroutings. But it’s an issue of persistence ““ we need to figure out what will work.
We all know that there are plenty of Facebook groups about saving Undie Run. Administrators should invite those people to a discussion on how to solve the issue. Those who show up will most certainly give ideas administrators have not considered before.
While I disagree with the cancellation, I respect it. However, I do not think that the entire Undie Run movement will cease. It will likely become an act of rebellion through Westwood as it started, something much less safe and harder to regulate than students’ running through campus.
Ramzanali is a third-year economics and global studies student. Ramzanali is a third-year economics and global studies student.