It started out innocently enough ““ a student wanted to be free. And by free, I really mean clothes-free.
So he turned his back on societal propriety and ran around the streets in his underwear.
It was such a phenomenal and mind-boggling idea, even the Los Angeles Times wrote a piece on all the students that could be seen running down Landfair and through the world-renowned UCLA campus.
But what the Los Angeles Times missed was one huge fact: The Undie Run started as a way to relieve finals stress, but now it has turned into something that induces stress.
It wasn’t always like this. “I did the Undie Run when it had just started, and there were barely any girls. … We never even thought of outfits. Everybody was just there to be stupid,” recalled Jackie Rivera, a 2003 UCLA alumna.
My, how the times have changed.
Now as students cavort through the streets, they are being bombarded with promotions for movies and products.
There are even families, random bystanders and perverted older men who come to watch and record this once student-driven event for god-knows-what purposes.
And, to add to all of this, students no longer only have to worry about final exams and final papers; now they’re also worrying about not appearing like complete heifers during the Undie Run.
People actually plan what kind of underwear they’re going to wear for the big night. I’ve seen girls shop at Victoria’s Secret, frantically racking their brains to remember if their friend is going to be wearing the same lingerie.
Or maybe they should be matching and have some sort of themed costumes? Maybe even hats should be involved?
Then again, I can’t knock them too much because ““ let’s be honest here ““ there has been many a time when I was right beside them, elbowing my way to the needed sizes.
The logistics of the Undie Run have turned the event into a superficial, sex-crazed fashion show, where everyone assesses whatever there is to ass-ess.
That way, when they go and drink themselves into a stupor later on, they can remember that they want the guy with the aviator sunglasses and the fake plastic butt.
At some point, the Undie Run ““ a chance to forget about studying for finals and writing papers and just let loose ““ turned into the Undie Gawk.
Suddenly, whenever this devolution in the tradition occurred, people began competing to have the coolest costumes, aiming for the most toned and glistening bodies and judging those who perhaps were sub-par in both areas.
Some think it’s the worst for girls.
“People do judge each other ““ all the girls are in their bras and even though guys are walking around without shirts, that’s normally accepted. It feels like you’re a lot more naked if you’re a girl,” said Stephanie Wong, a second-year physiological science student.
At the end of the stampede, we have to think to ourselves: Are the casualties of this night only the random bras and thongs abandoned during this break for freedom? Or are we also sacrificing everyone’s right to be who they are ““ with or without love handles?
We need to take a moment and remember the true spirit of the Undie Run.
“I think it’s something unique about UCLA. I know people at other schools who wish they had something like this at their schools,” said Jonathan Sim, a third-year marine biology student. “For me, it’s just a time for your friends to have fun.”
Let us band together as the founders of the Undie Run once did and focus on the things that matter in life ““ not your weight, nor how you look in your underwear, nor the uncomfortable amount of bystanders ogling you as you whiz past.
Focus instead on this: You are (momentarily) free of worries, free of consequences, free of judgment and, most importantly, free of clothes.
Think clothes are a social constraint? Well, Poblador doesn’t. E-mail her at bpoblador@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.