Public nudity at Tufts is something normally reserved for onespecial night in December, but that changed early yesterdayafternoon.
Students walking on the academic quad or on the library stepsaround noon yesterday were treated to a revealing spectacle as 17naked runners from Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. ran throughcampus.
The streakers are members of Hamilton's Varsity Streaking Team.The co-ed team was founded in 2002 by Hamilton alum MatthewStringer, according to members of the team.
The sport of streaking is not officially recognized by HamiltonCollege, nor by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Yesterday's event was one stop on the team's five-day tour ofthe New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Thetour began on Oct. 1 and ends today.
Why the NESCAC? According to a Sept. 22 press release, the teamsaid, "Well, we were rejected from Middlebury, Williams, Bowdoinand Wesleyan. Now we cavort in the verdant quadrangles which wehave been denied."
"We mean no disrespect; we wish only to illuminate, to dazzle,to amuse and astonish. And, of course, streaking is wicked fun,"the press release continued.
The team arrived in a Winnebago in the late morning. They begantheir run on the roof of the library with a round ofcalisthenics.
Classics graduate student Ryan Hughes witnessed these warm-upsfrom the windows of the Classics Department in Eaton Hall. "Well,it was exciting enough to make me put down my Latin homework," hesaid.
The streakers then ran around the quad with whistles and amegaphone, stopping to take a group photo at the statue of Jumbo.Team members also claim to have passed - and possibly offended -both a tour group and a rabbi.
"The rabbi asked us what our purpose was," team member CraigMoores said.
Team members did not have any one purpose to offer for theiractivities. One member said it was "just for the hell of it."
Shushrut Acharya, another Hamilton team member, said "thebiggest thing that happened in the history of man is that henoticed he was different from the animals and covered his[genitalia]. Clothing is a barrier to the real world."
Moores said the team is "shedding the shell of societalpressure."
The team did have a brief encounter with the Tufts UniversityPolice Department (TUPD), who "told us to put our clothes back on,"Moores said.
"We did have some reports of some individuals running aroundunclothed," said Captain Mark Keith of TUPD.
"They got to the area and one of our guys caught a glimpse ofthem running across Professors Row, and some behind PearsonChemistry Lab, where I guess we're told they gathered theirbelongings and scattered," Keith said.
TUPD does plan to talk to the Dean of Students Office about thematter. "We didn't identify any of them, and we were not aware ofwho they were," Keith said.
According to the team, they have avoided police contactthroughout the tour. "We haven't caught any heat from the fuzz onthe tour," Moores said. "We don't want to become sexualoffenders."
"If you get arrested twice, you're a sexual offender," teammember Ashley Westbrook said. "We don't want to have to cut thetour short due to any arrests."
According to the press release, "The team is dedicated tospreading love for and awareness of the body, to enlighten andenliven unsuspecting spectators."
The team left Tufts at about 1 p.m. for their next scheduledstop on the tour, Wellesley College. "They aren't in the NESCAC,but we did want to hit an all-girls school," Acharya said. Today'stargets also include Amherst College.
For the most part, the team has found the targeted campusesreceptive. "I got a bunch of high-fives up on the quad," Mooressaid.
Students who happened to be on the academic quad were caughtunawares. "I was pretty surprised," junior Erin Miller said. "I'mshocked that they came all the way here just to streak, but theylooked like they were having a lot of fun."
The team unanimously agreed, however, that Bates had been thebest stop. "A bunch of Bates kids dropped their stuff and joinedin," Moores said.
Team members extended an invitation to the Tufts community tojoin them at their Fall Invitational. It will be held at Hamiltonon Oct. 24 and 25.
"When you're sick of slamming textbooks to your dome and beersto your liver, come to Hamilton and streak," Moores said.
Information regarding the invitational can be found athamiltonstreaks.com. "All the information is on our Web site,"Acharya said. "Everyone who comes will have a place to stay andbeers to drink."
