Dear Editor,
In response to an opinion piece about the Naked Quad Run (NQR) published yesterday, "Larry Bacow is not my homeboy," I would like to offer up a different and perhaps more positive point of view regarding the events of the last few days.
I was initially just as upset as the next person when University President Lawrence Bacow decided that Tufts should not sanction NQR, but then I realized that perhaps his decision was not such a bad thing after all.
When all is said and done, this should never have become a Tufts-sanctioned event in the first place. If anything, the fact that it is a Tufts-sponsored event only encourages students who wouldn't normally do NQR to get out of their comfort zone, often with the help of alcohol. Putting aside all the accusations about Tufts' supposed "binge drinking culture," I would like to point out that tradition should stem from a student body continuing the actions of their predecessors, not because their school says they can or cannot do it.
Of course this will not be the end of NQR, as many students showed us Monday night as they gathered around the Res Quad for a sober run to protest President Bacow's decision. But I do believe that our president's decision was not an act of spite, but rather a gift of awareness. I like to believe that he was sitting in his house Monday night, proud as any father that we stood up for ourselves and proved him wrong.
I believe that NQR will now be brought back to its roots, with perhaps a smaller turnout, but with more emotion than ever. I can only hope that we can continue to prove him wrong and make NQR a safe and even possibly sober event by ourselves.
Sincerely,
Sarah Lockwood
Class of 2013
