Protestant Chaplain's opinion on the naked quad run

As a newcomer to the Tufts community, I was interested and a little surprised to hear about the annual "Naked Quad Run" tradition on campus and what it entails. I asked a senior what the appeal was and he said, "It's just for fun," a sentiment echoed by the University Chaplain, who said it is intended to be a light-hearted way to reduce tension during a stress-filled time of the semester. "Intended."

I was also informed that, unfortunately, there are often more unintended consequences than intended in the Naked Quad Run -- the exploitation of the vulnerable in this case -- when students combine this venerable tradition with drinking and/or taking drugs.

When I asked my senior friend about the drinking that always seems to go with the event, he said, "I know I wouldn't be able to get up the courage to strip down and run naked through the campus if I didn't have something to drink first." The fact is, alcohol provides only a false sense of courage, ability and safety. Drinking lowers inhibitions, leading to risky behaviors, unsafe circumstances, and even to injuries and hospitalizations. Alcohol impairs physical sensation, reaction time, coordination, and judgment (spatial as well as moral), skills that one would especially need in such a running event. Drunken runners are not the smartest or safest runners.

And then, because the campus is more or less unsupervised and accessible to all during this event, I'm told that voyeuristic outsiders (fellow students, too?) prey on participants by bringing in cameras, resulting in photos and video recordings posted to the web. This, to my mind is especially reprehensible, a violation of one's right to control the production and distribution of personal images, and an added threat to personal safety.

Given the out-of-control elements of the NQR, I have to ask: how many relationships are put at risk because the intended fun is betrayed by stupid and unsafe behavior? How many people feel worse after the event than before, either physically ill or hung-over, or remorseful about things they did and said, conveniently video recorded for posterity and perhaps for all eternity? How many people feel used, because they were told they would have fun and instead end up being vulnerable to abuse and exploitation?

In my religious tradition our bodies are "temples of the Holy Spirit" (St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, 6:19): we honor the Giver when we cherish these flesh-and-blood gifts we have been given. It is a theological way of referring to the common-sense wisdom of self-care: giving our physical bodies the love, respect and nurture they deserve, so that we can realize our highest potentials. I would urge all who are thinking about participating to consider the personal safety, self-care and respect issues that are raised by this event. I also urge those in charge of the NQR to do all they can to make this a safe, respectful and constructive event.

Laurie Rofinot is the Associate Protestant Chaplain of the University.