I am not against the ban of the Naked Quad Run (NQR). I ran NQR last year and I had a great time, but running this year would be a little like shouting, "I'm Spartacus!" We would all be crucified on the Appian Way.
I am appalled, however, by the decision of the Committee on Student Life (CSL) to pass a sweeping, dictatorial and highly punitive amendment to the Student Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct, meant to protect Tufts students, not punish them, now allows for all 746 members of the Facebook event, "If I'm at Tufts in December, I'll Run NQR Anyway" to be suspended because of the clause "Any student … who claims to have run in defiance of the [NQR] ban, will also be subject to a one semester suspension."
I agree with Former University President Lawrence Bacow's assessment that the run had become an alcohol−fueled nightmare for the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) and the Tufts administration. I understand the concerns of TUPD in dealing with naked, intoxicated students. But at least we knew where they were: on the Res Quad. Now Tufts Emergency Medical Services, TUPD and residential advisers will have to deal with an entire campus celebrating the end of classes and mourning the loss of NQR in their rooms, in frats and in off−campus apartments, where no one will find them until they need transportation to the hospital. The "solution" to NQR may in fact jeopardize student safety more than NQR itself.
In November 2009, before the ban on the Naked Quad Run was announced, the Trustees of Tufts College approved a Declaration on Freedom of Expression at Tufts University. (I urge you to read all of it for yourself.) The Declaration identified three basic values common to all members of the community, from the president and the dean of student affairs, to the student who sits in the back of my stats class and the janitors who vacuum your common room: respect for the freedoms of inquiry and expression, the need to exercise those freedoms in ways that respect the human dignity of others, and the importance of a climate at Tufts that is conducive to learning and that allows all to attain their full potential.
The Trustees said, "When community values are not respected, every member of the Tufts community has an obligation to respond. Those who are the target of such speech should not and must not bear the burden of responding alone. An affront against any member of our community is an affront to all of us."
I believe that our community values have been disrespected. We were not given the freedoms to inquire or express ourselves fully on the matter of punishment for participation in the Naked Quad Run. NQR has been a unique Tufts tradition for years, and while I will not question the validity of banning the run itself, every member of the Tufts community should feel an obligation to question the decision to amend the Student Code of Conduct in an overly punitive way and the decision not to fully publicize the meetings of the CSL where that decision was made.
The CSL maintains that its meetings to discuss the NQR ban were open to all for public comment, but I can't find any mention of CSL meeting times or locations on TuftsLife or other Tufts calendars. If I may reference "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (1979), it's very difficult to comment on plans that were made publicly available "in the bottom of a locked file cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.'"
The CSL has an obligation to tell the community when it is considering a topic of great importance. The fact that it did not is deeply worrying and raises questions about mutual trust between the Tufts community and those that control it; specifically, does the administration (even the CSL, which I am aware is a joint committee) trust the student body to participate in truly important decisions, or only the decisions that are superficially important, like those involving WinterFest?
A one−semester suspension is unreasonable. Is running NQR — or even claiming you ran NQR — really equivalent to other one−semester suspension offenses listed in the Judicial Process Handbook: assault, theft and sexual misconduct, among others? Even the U.S. Military Academy at West Point doesn't punish its students so harshly for the Academy's tradition of "Naked Man," a cat−and−mouse chase between an overly stressed student and the Officer of the Guard while the rest of West Point watches.
I feel the points I have made stand for themselves. Tufts has made an inconsiderate decision without prior notification or significant student input. I would like to ask three questions to the members of the Committee for Student Life, Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman and President Monaco: why, why and how? Why did you feel that you needed to threaten students with suspension? Why couldn't we be part of the decision−making process? How can we trust you not to breach our trust again?
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Evan Moulson is a sophomore who is majoring in economics.
