Naked Quad Run

Greetings! I have asked my colleagues, the associate chaplains, to offer their thoughts on the Naked Quad Run. It is my hope that offering the views of the University Chaplain and the views of the Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Protestant associate chaplains that the individual students can form their own conscience and act accordingly.

First, I would like to offer some history or lack of history concerning the NQR. There is no written documentation concerning the NQR. Russell E. Miller's two-volume history of Tufts, "Light on the Hill" does not give it any attention. Most of the recent editions of The Pachyderm, state "We can't talk about it!" Thus we are left with living tradition or oral history. Most people of a certain age would recount that the NQR first began as a protest against women being admitted to Tufts College/Jackson College. But, over the course of years this protest against women has been eliminated. The more modern history of the NQR has been more of a means of release from the pressures of finals. It has always been up to the residents of West Hall to determine the time and date. Mostly, it has taken place the first or second day of reading period.

As University Chaplain, I am all for the upholding of Jumbo traditions. I am also in favor of protecting the health and safety of all students all the time. Since 1998, I have had the very tragic task of calling or helping parents deal with the death of their son or daughter. I do not want to make that task a regular job duty. Thus, moderation in drinking is very important. The laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts need to be followed at all times. A student should never put one's self in the position of not being in control of one's own senses.

As a professor of Comparative Religion and the instructor of the course titled "World Religions and Sexual Ethics," I have a few more insights on the NQR. I do not see anything sexual about the NQR. Once the outside temperature dips below 60 degrees, blood flow is needed elsewhere in the body. Also, the human body should always be seen as the gift of God's creation. Look at the statue of Michelangelo's David. The sculpture upholds the human body as something glorious. On the opposite extreme is the entire pornography industry. The pornography industry reduces the human body to the level of domination, conquest and lust, especially degrading of all women. I would see the NQR falling some where in the middle of these two positions.

Personally, I have the strongest level of moral indignation to those folks who try to record and or broadcast the NQR. One moment of college fun should not be part of a video collection or part of a webcast.

I would ask and pray that all students treat each other with full respect and dignity. I will hope for a level of maturity that was missing last year, resulting in alcohol poisoning and students tripping one another. Finally, I would urge any participant to carry their own can of silly string in order to shoot at any electronic equipment being used to record the event. Pax et Lux to all.

ReverendDavid M. O'Leary, S.T.L., Ph.D., is the University Chaplain at Tufts