Students still undecided on whether they will participate in this year's Naked Quad run should rest assured: whatever their decision, they won't be bored.
Students can listen to music provided by GrooveBoston while enjoying free donuts and hot chocolate outside Barnum Hall at 8 p.m., leading up to the run at 10 p.m.
The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate and the Programming Board will also hand out free shirts, they wrote in an e-mail to the Tufts community.
The biggest change from last year's event is that the run is happening on a Monday, instead of a Friday, causing students with class until 10 p.m. to miss some of the fun.
Junior Ashley Goldthwait will be in Lane Hall for her class, Introduction to Painting, from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. tonight. Goldthwait said that even if the class adjourns in time for the run, she could still miss the donuts and hot chocolate.
"A lot of kids are missing out on that because they have class," she said.
Planners decided to hold the event tonight instead of Friday to preserve tradition, according to London Moore, Senate Special Projects Chair. The event typically takes place on the last day of class, which fell on a Friday last year. She also said that some students with finals in class on Monday did not want the run to conflict with their studies.
"There was a whole discussion that went into it," she said. "It was definitely a hard decision."
Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said that holding run the tonight might make the event more exclusive of people outside the Tufts community.
It's "less likely [that] outsiders would be looking [for] something going on on-campus," on a Monday, he said.
But Reitman and NQR planners still expect non-students to be present. Reitman credited the Senate and Programming Board forewarning students in their e-mail that a video of their jog might end up on Internet sites including the popular You Tube Web site.
Reitman's other concerns involve student safety. West Hall will only be open to residents and pre-registered guests around the time of the run, a rule implemented to prevent overcrowding that could lead to injury.
The risk for injury while on the run may be reduced this year, considering weather forecasts suggesting that a snowstorm like last year's is unlikely.
"This year the weather does not look as horrible as it has," Moore said. "Clear skies...I'm excited."
- Marc Raifman
