Willamette traditions seem to be slipping through the cracks one by one: first Freshman Glee, an annual tradition where each class would competitively create and perform an original song, and now the Spring Preview Streaking — popularly known as the Naked Run.
While no one knows how or why it began, The Naked Run was a longstanding tradition for graduating seniors to streak the quad on the last Bearcat Day. The hope was for prospective students to see the graduating students’ camaraderie and bravery, along with generating a positive perception of the student body that they are signing up for. As written in The Collegian’s April 2012 issue, “[The Naked Run] says that we’re spontaneous and fun and free to express ourselves to all those prospective students and their tuition-dropping parents.”
With this intended message in mind, it is no surprise that in The Collegian’s September issue of 2016, when a poll was conducted on the senior class’s bucket list items for the term, participating in the Spring Preview Streaking came out on top. Former Collegian Staff Writer Nebraska Lucas wrote that it was “a staple for every senior. Drop trou, slap paint on your ass and go crazy.” If this tradition was so crucial to past senior experiences, why didn’t the class of ’23 carry on with this bold rite of passage?
One of the reasons former Collegian staff writer Alison Ezard points to is the age of smartphones. After joining herself, Ezard wrote in 2014’s April issue that she noticed pointed cameras from prospective students, parents and even her peers. The cameras added a disturbing element to the tradition, and she went on to write that “there is a major difference between choosing to get naked for 10 minutes in front of a select group of people and having your naked self immortalized on the Internet for anyone available to see.” The Spring Preview Streaking requires a certain level of respect and responsibility from the audience. Their involvement can make or break the experience. Ezard noticed the duality of the crowd, writing that “the cheering and high-fives from the onlookers definitely created a sense of camaraderie among the University community; seeing all those cameras out also made me feel a little like a circus animal.”
If fear of an online presence held students back in 2014, how did the tradition last six years past this account? As per typical Willamette fashion, students found creative solutions to their less-than-typical troubles. The solution that was decided upon was to give the word “streaking” a much looser definition.
Willamette alumna Lauren Saxton (’09), while not a participant, recounted, “Most people wore something to cover up that was a little creative.” At this point, the Naked Run evolved into more of an “anything-but-clothes run.” Saxton stated that students adorned themselves with “body paint and Willamette balloons or something” that would give students a little bit of cover to provide a less revealing experience. Another alumna, Maddy Kaplan (’22), a spectator for her year’s run, noted, “It's so cool to have a way to participate in traditions in a way that is meaningful and comfortable to you.”
Despite adjustments, the class of ’23 chose to let ’22 be the last streakers on record. Alumna Casey Swinkels (’23) said that she never imagined that the tradition would die out since students seemed to have such a fun time with it. Swinkels mentioned that it failed to happen during her graduation year because nobody took the time to organize it. The anticipation recorded in 2016’s senior bucket list had smoked out, leaving less participation and no one to plan in ’23.
The end to this long-standing tradition might have been forecasted by the dwindling enthusiasm, but has campus changed so drastically that students don’t need a streaking tradition to complete their college experience? Alumni have an underlying concern that by taking away long-standing traditions like the Spring Preview Streaking, students are having less fun than in previous years. Saxton said, “You guys work so hard, and no offense but you don't seem to have as much fun as we used to have before the internet was so pervasive.”
While it can easily be said that the modern Willamette student body can have fun without dropping trou, painting our asses and taking to the quad, it does bring to light the question of whether a new tradition should take its place that has a similar carefree element. Should the graduating seniors take to the quad in a newly imagined manner? This, of course, is up to the class of ’25 to decide. Will they be the class to bring headway to a fresh custom that better represents the current student body, or will Willamette slowly lose traditions to the trials of time?