Streaking at educational institutions

When and where campus streaking started is unknown. Streaking seems to have been well-established on some college campuses by the mid-1960s. For example, an 1967 article in the student paper at Carleton College in Minnesota laments: "Examples of [Carleton's social problems] are the large number of departing female students, the rise of class spirit, low grades, streaking, destruction, drinking, and the popularity of rock dances." (At that time, streaking was already a tradition on the Minnesota campus, during January and February when temperatures were well below freezing.)

Time magazine, in December 1973, called streaking "a growing Los Angeles-area fad" that was "catching on among college students and other groups." A letter writer responded, "Let it be known that streakers have plagued the campus police at Notre Dame for the past decade", pointing out that a group of students there sponsored a "Streakers' Olympics" in 1972.

Records

The current record for the largest group streak was established at the University of Georgia, with 1,543 simultaneous streakers on March 7, 1974. The University of Colorado comes in second with 1,200 streakers, and the University of Maryland ranks third, with 553 naked students streaking three miles in March 1974. Erskine College claimed the highest per-capita streak, when 25% of its 600 students participated in a streaking party in 1974.^{[citation needed]}

United States

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Once a year the annual "Streak Hathway" event occurs. Students run nude down Hathway St. T-shirts are sold to raise money for Breast Cancer research.

Carleton College

Streaking at Carleton College is a custom that spans half a century and garners participation from all sectors of the student body. Naked runs are regular fixtures on campus. While officially unsanctioned, the events are widely accepted by the administration and generally supported by the student body. Streaking is common during major campus events. While streaking may occur anywhere on campus, common targets include midnight breakfast and the Libe (during reading days), the Arb, and certain convocations (i.e. the opening frisbee toss). Carleton streakers also hit the St. Olaf campus, and on at least one occasion, streaked through Buntrock Commons.

The men's and women's cross country teams are particularly well known for their streaking. Both teams have historically participated in "naked laps" at Stadium and welcome the first snow of each year with a naked run.

University of California

The University of California, Santa Cruz has an annual fall tradition known as First Rain, where students begin the run in Porter College and run naked around the campus during the first rainfall of the fall season, usually in October.

The University of California, Berkeley has a biannual tradition during each semester's final examinations in which students (typically those in student housing cooperatives) streak through Moffitt Library. Since the run takes place in the midst of finals, the library tends to have a higher student presence, thereby increasing the shocking effect.

University of Chicago

Streaking became an annual campus tradition at the University of Chicago in 1983, during their Kuviasungnerk winter festival, to help students kick the winter blues. It is called the Polar Bear run. There are often more spectators than actual participants.

Another streaking tradition occurs annually on the Sunday of finals week winter quarter. The track/cross-country team run completely nude (wearing sneakers, of course) around each floor of the Regenstein library.

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College has two streaking-related challenges: The Ledyard Challenge, in which students swim naked across the Connecticut River and run nude back across the bridge, and the Blue Light Challenge, in which streaking students attempt to press the alarm on every one of the campus's blue light emergency phones. Currently, a Thursday Night Streaking Club regularly streaks at various events and public places.

Denison University

Students at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, started a tradition called Naked Week in 2003, usually held in the second half of February; students run naked across a different quad every night. Opening ceremonies begin with students running out of the library and across the academic quad, and the week usually culminates in a naked ultimate frisbee game on Saturday.

Hamilton College

Hamilton College of New York has a Varsity Streaking Team, which, until recently, boasted an undefeated record. The team received positive coverage in the New York Times in 2004 after streaking twelve private colleges in the New England region. Other victories include Colgate University and Princeton University, the latter sparked by a challenge from that school's streaking squad. The Williams College "Springstreakers" defeated Hamilton in spring 2005: fifteen members of the Williams team made a full circuit of the Hamilton library the night before their final examinations began, streaking about 200 people and giving the Hamilton team their first loss. "Hamilton College Varsity Streaking Team". http://www.jockandbuttons.com/hamiltonstreaks/si.html. Retrieved 2009-05-12.  It was reported, however, that many Williams students had failed to remove all of their clothing, calling into question the final score.

Harvard

The last night before final examinations at Harvard University sees undergraduates participating in a Primal Scream. Students disrobe and run a lap around Harvard Yard. This is done in both semesters, even during New England winters. Some of the streakers will dress in capes and masks, or top hat and tails, but their genitalia are still exposed. The walkways through which the streakers run are lined with spectators and the school's marching band plays beforehand to excite the crowd.

Lawrence University

Streaking at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, has often been associated with the Great Midwest Trivia Contest. Also, the end of the year Senior Streak was a historic tradition until it was suppressed in the early 2000s. The revival of the Senior Streak will be going on its fifth year in 2010.

Lewis & Clark College

Students of Lewis & Clark College began their naked mile tradition as a response to the arrest of some of its students at a downtown protest.^{[citation needed]} Since then the mile has remained as a celebration of body image, encouraging students to come naked, in body paint, or wearing underwear/bra/whatever they feel comfortable in without question or judgment. Students continue to honor the legacy each year on prospective student weekend and running in solidarity through the school.

University of Michigan

In 1986, the University of Michigan's Naked Mile celebrated the last day of class with a group streak across campus along an approximate one-mile path. At the height of its popularity in the late 1990s, between 500 and 800 students would participate. However, due to recent enforcement of public indecency laws and increasing spectator crowds and videotaping, participation has declined, and in 2001, a mere 24 students participated. Students were warned by college administrators that streakers would be arrested and declared sex offenders for life under Megan's Law.

University of Notre Dame

During study days before finals week each semester, residents of Zahm Hall streak through the LaFortune Student Center. There have been attempts by Notre Dame Security Police (NDSP) to prevent the event, but to date, such attempts have been unsuccessful.

Pennsylvania State University

Every year at midnight on the Sunday night before finals students streak down Mifflin Road as a way to relieve pre-finals anxiety. The event is not publicized by the University but it is widely known among students when it is going to be held. In previous years part of the fun of the night was that the streakers would have to outrun the police (who would try to catch them to charge them with public indecency) however in 2009 this was not the case. This is because the previous year (2008) a case was made by a Penn State student that her crime was not public indecency due to the fact that everyone that is outside at this time knows what they are going to see and has consented to it, that all participants are over the age of 18, and that no children should be in this area and awake at this time. She won her case and since then police have acted much more like a peacekeeping force than anything. The event is highly enjoyable for all students with up to 50 or more participating each year and it is widely regarded as a time-honored tradition.

Princeton

Princeton University has had a long tradition of streaking. The term "running a streak" was in use by 1966. The preferred time for streaking was after midnight on weekends when coed parties were ending, the course being down Prospect Avenue, across campus, and ending in the runner's dorm. A streaking incident in 1970 was meant as a one-time prank, but in time, streaking became a tradition of the sophomore class, and rules were drafted for the event. The tradition declined in the 1990s and the administration chose not to tolerate the event anymore; the Board of Trustees voted to ban the practice in 1999 because it was becoming dangerous and attracting too many outsiders.

Swarthmore College

The men's and women's rugby union teams at Swarthmore College engage in a streaking fundraiser each semester known as the "Dash for Cash", in which the team members run naked through Parrish Hall, the main administration building. Spectators are expected to bring money, which the streakers grab from their hands as they run by. The activity has been known to catch bystanders unawares, despite heavy publicity featuring the slogan, "Bring money, or you're a pervert."

Tufts

The Naked Quad Run was an annual tradition among the student body at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. Every December, on the night of the final day of fall semester classes, students gathered during the evening to run naked around the Rez Quad several times. Because of injuries during previous years when the event was unsanctioned by the university, the administration designated the evening as the Nighttime Quad Reception and provides refreshments and entertainment.[1] After an increase in incidents related to alcohol toxicity and a student arrest, the tradition was ended by Tufts University President Lawrence Bacow in March of 2011.

University of Virginia

At the University of Virginia, tradition holds that prior to graduating, students must run naked from the steps of the Rotunda and down the 740-foot Lawn to kiss the buttocks of a statue of Homer, before running back up the Lawn to peer through the keyhole of the Rotunda, which affords a view of the marble statue of the school's founder, Thomas Jefferson, before they retrieve their clothes. In 1995, a mass streak was organized to protest a police crackdown on the practice.

Union College

The students at Union College of New York held midnight "Pajama Parade" events in 1862, 1914 and several times in the 1950s. The real streaking tradition, which was nationally popular since 1973, arrived at the campus in the 1990s in the form of a nocturnal lap around the Nott Memorial known as the "Naked Nott Run."

Wheaton College

At Wheaton College (Illinois) during the first snow fall of every year, usually in late November, large numbers of male students, either minimally clothed or fully in the buff run to the sign in front of the school marked, "Wheaton College: For Christ and His Kingdom", a distance of 4000 feet round trip. This event usually takes place late at night and it mostly involves students living in campus dormitories. The current record for largest "Kingdom Run" was set on Monday November 17, 2008 at 12:30 a.m. when over 50 men participated, a feat for a small, conservative evangelical college. On December 8th, 2009 dozens of male students throughout Traber Dormitory were fined by Residence Life for their nude participation in the Kingdom Run. Many framed the Student Accounts receipt that noted "public nudity" as a charge of $50.00. The college does not officially support a completely nude Kingdom Run; however, the tradition of braving the cold in limited clothing does continue to draw students. Students who participate in a nude kingdom run can expect to receive a $100 fine and a disciplinary response.

College of William & Mary

At The College of William & Mary, students do a traditional "triathlon". The first part requires streaking the length of the Sunken Garden, a grassy area in the middle of campus. The other parts are swimming across the Crim Dell (a small pond) and jumping a wall at the Governor's Palace in nearby Colonial Williamsburg.

University of Vermont

At UVM, students participate in the Naked Bike Ride at midnight at the end of each semester. They run, bike, unicycle, carry kayaks, push shopping carts, or pull sleds. Historically the bike ride has occurred around athletic campus. The topic of the Naked Bike Ride has been a touchy one among UVM police, who have tried several times to do away with it. In 2011, Interim President John Bramley ended school funding for the event. This resulting in the student body creating the UVM Green Caps, a group of student volunteers stationed around campus throughout the evening for the safety of students.

Other countries

University of the Philippines

At the University of the Philippines, members of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity streak around the campus in an annual event known as the Oblation Run. The run started in 1977 to protest the banning of the movie, “Hubad na Bayani,” which depicted human rights abuses in the martial law era and continues as a protest action.

University of Alicante

In 2011, the first nudist race took place at the University of Alicante (Spain). The aim of the race was to leave clothes behind and those garments were donated to an NGO (Proyecto Lázaro) that gives them a second use or recycle them to get funds for charitable funds.

The race took place once the classes period had finished and previous to the exam weeks.