Vol. 128, No. 1
Monday, May 7, 2018
NEWS
OPINION
A&C
A BROTHERHOOD THROUGH TRAGEDY
CHECK OUT THE GRADUATION GUIDE
AFTERCARE AFTER A NIGHT IN OLD TOWN
PAGE 15
PAGE 5
PAGE 21
Thousands of CSU students gather in the volleyball courts outside the Rec Center on campus to celebrate the annual Undie Run before finals week. PHOTO BY DAVIS BONNER COLLEGIAN
Thousands of students strip for end-of-the-year Undie Run By Meagan Stackpool and Ravyn Cullor @CSUCollegian
What started as a flashmob in the Morgan Library has developed into an end-of-theyear dash of college students, which the Colorado State University Administration strictly condemns: it’s Undie Run season. Thousands of students ran in their underwear from the front of the Recreation Center, around the Lory Student Center and campus, then back to the Rec Center and Intramural Fields
for post-run celebrations the evening of May 4. First-time runner Jessica Neal, a junior human development and family studies major, said she enjoyed the run. “This is my first year ever doing it and my friends really wanted to, and they brought me out to do it,” Neal said. “It was overall a really good time.” Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Jody Donovan said the Undie Run is not sponsored nor authorized by the University. “I would prefer that the Undie Run ends,” Donovan
said. “There is more power if students come together and say ‘we aren’t going to do this anymore.’” Originally called the Body Acceptance Run Extravaganza, or BARE, the Undie Run was designed to promote body acceptance, Donovan said. Additionally, some years featured a clothing drive where all clothes left behind would be donated to charity. According to an email from the CSU Public Safety Team sent on Thursday, because the run is not sponsored, the University must pay for clean up, security and damage
expenses, which historically costs about $15,000. These funds come out of tuition and fee dollars. Depending on the year, Donovan said she recalls crowds of between 700 and 5,000. Donovan said the first time she remembers an event similar to the Undie Run was a flash-mob, which caused significant damage to the Morgan Library. In the following year, the mob moved out into the Plaza. Early in the event’s history, the run took place on active city streets, which adversely affected traffic and caused
safety concerns between runners and drivers, Donovan said. The University worked with the organizers of the run at the time to move onto campus, and Undie Run has been off of city streets since. While the run was not approved by the University, both the CSU Police Department and the Fort Collins Police Department were there to make sure students had a fun and safe time, said CSUPD Chief Scott Harris. “Just like every other day and every other time, our see UNDIE RUN on page 5 >>