Why were there naked people running through the library last night?
In case you didn’t think Berkeley could get any more progressive
It was a typical Wednesday night, 9 p.m.: Main Stacks in Doe and Moffitt Libraries were packed with fatigued students cramming for finals, and it was silent.
Suddenly this silence turned into a stampede of students running naked through the aisles, and a crowd formed.
The UC Berkeley Naked Run occurs once every semester during RRR week (dead week), the week before final exams. The mass of students arrive at Main Stacks dressed in costumes and meet at the Moffitt stairwell to strip their clothes off.
While some choose to cover their faces, many bare all and run their victory laps to the amusement of the bewildered students now whipping out their iPhones.
More like “innocent bystanders”
Most of the students came from the co-op houses last night, but anybody is welcome to partake in the fast-paced, vulnerable streak as the crowd chants, “Take off your clothes!”
Sophie Andrews was one of yesterday’s naked runners. The freshman said: “I think being able to feel happy and strong while simultaneously completely exposed and vulnerable is a unique feeling that you won’t get many other places. It’s powerful.”
Another freshman, Michael Horio, was a bystander. He said: “To be honest I think it’s pretty brave of the participants, and it made me appreciate Berkeley and how unique and progressive a place it is.
“It’s also interesting to see naked bodies in a non-sexualized way.”
Meanwhile, another student proclaimed, “I saw an uncircumcised peen for the first time!”
Bears ready to bare all
This tradition should come as no surprise. UC Berkeley has a longstanding history of sexual liberation that traces back to the historic Free Speech Movement in the 1960s.
Although past naked runs have been used as methods of protest, the semesterly naked runs today are all in good fun, whether it be a way to relieve stress or check off an item off the senior bucket list.