In 2002, I had my first encounter with the Naked Quad Run (NQR). That year, two students nearly died the night of the run due to alcohol poisoning. In addition, we had many reports of broken bones and sprained ankles and wrists; we also heard accounts of students being tripped and groped by spectators. At the time, the event was completely unmanaged. When I saw the carnage, I sent a message to the community expressing my own strong opinion that it should end. I was persuaded otherwise by students and alumni who argued that the run was a cherished tradition at Tufts and that it could be managed to make it safe. I was also persuaded by those who argued that if we tried to eliminate the run, it would only reappear in other forms that might pose even greater risk to our students. 
 
 After consulting the dean of student affairs, the director of public safety and the president of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, I agreed that we should try to manage the run rather than end it. Since then, the Facilities and Construction Department has erected barriers to eliminate dangerous bottlenecks and keep spectators away from the runners, put out hay bales to protect runners and salted and sanded the course. The Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) has limited access to West Hall to prevent overcrowding. The TCU Senate and the Programming Board have sponsored the Nighttime Quad Reception to provide food to those who otherwise might be running — and drinking — on an empty stomach. 
 
 Unfortunately, our efforts to manage the risks associated with the run may only have helped it grow. An activity that once engaged only a modest number of students now draws a significant portion of the undergraduate population. Moreover, our capacity to manage the run has declined over time. Medford and Somerville police, who previously assisted in providing security for the run, now refuse to do so, pointing out that this activity would be illegal at any other time or place. Our own police association has written to me saying that our police officers are themselves uncomfortable working the event, noting that students are not only nude but also routinely inebriated and disrespectful. (Members of the Dean of Student Affairs' staff report that drunk, naked students often taunt those who are working the event, provocatively flaunting their nudity.) Some members of TUPD have even suggested that requiring officers to continue to work the event might constitute a hostile work environment in violation of federal regulations governing sexual harassment. 
 
 As has been reported in the Daily, this year's run led to a student confrontation with police, which led to an arrest. In addition, we had 12 medical transports to area hospitals on the night of the run. Drunken students who showed up at Lawrence Memorial Hospital to check on a friend who had been transported disrupted emergency room operations, placing other patients in jeopardy. What is most disturbing, two students were hospitalized that night with reported blood alcohol levels in excess of 0.3 — four times the legal limit for driving while intoxicated in Massachusetts. Medical personnel tell me that there is a 50 percent probability of death for anyone with a blood alcohol level in excess of .3. Clearly, this past December we once again only narrowly avoided a tragedy. 
 
 When we have had problems with other large events at Tufts, such as Winter Bash or Spring Fling, we have taken actions to ensure the safety of our students. While not always popular, these changes have been effective in reducing the risks associated with these events. Moreover, they have been designed and implemented through consultation between student leaders and members of the administration. 
 
 If I thought similar measures might render the Naked Quad Run safe, I would consider them. But as the Daily has also observed, alcohol fuels NQR. Most students say that they require it in order to fortify themselves to shed their inhibitions and run in subfreezing conditions. Given that we can no longer manage the run, we cannot allow this "tradition" to continue. Even if I did not act now, NQR would end some day. The only question is whether a student has to die first. We cannot allow this to happen, and the Naked Quad Run will not continue. 
 
 Other institutions have faced similar questions and have developed new opportunities to build community while ending traditions that are dangerous to students. I have asked seniors Sam Wallis, president of the TCU, and Sarah Habib, co−chair of the Programming Board, to work with Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman and others to come up with a plan to create a new campus−wide winter event that will engage the larger community. Traditions are important and we want to encourage them, but they also need to be safe. No tradition is worth sacrificing a life to preserve. 
 
 -- ||||| Dozens of students last night participated in a partially nude run in a protest of the cancellation of NQR. 
 
 Dozens of students last night engaged in a partially nude run around the Res Quad in a peaceful, sober protest against University President Lawrence Bacow's decision to end the annual Naked Quad Run (NQR), typically held in mid-December to celebrate the end of classes. 
 
 The students, brought together by texts, e-mails and Facebook event messages circulated throughout the day, were cheered on by clothed bystanders. Most participants were not nude upon arrival at the Res Quad, but many shed their clothes when they saw that the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) officers at the run were remaining inside their squad cars. 
 
 Participants and onlookers called the impromptu run a show of dissent against the administration's decision to cancel NQR because of safety concerns. 
 
 "I feel like this proves that they can't stop it. It's going to happen next year. You're going get more people than this, especially after people realize that nothing happened to anybody who ran tonight," one freshman male runner, who preferred to remain anonymous, said. 
 
 Sophomore Howie Levine, who did not participate in the run but came to the Res Quad last night to ensure there was an impartial witness to the run, said he was impressed with the TUPD's restraint. 
 
 "They decided not to arrest people and people protested without drinking and did a pretty responsible job of it," he said. "I respect the protests, and I respect TUPD for it." 
 
 The runners stopped after twenty minutes and the Res Quad was deserted by 10:30 p.m. 
 
 Programming Board and the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate yesterday issued an e-mail to the student body announcing a contest to create a replacement event for NQR. 
 
 Programming Board Chair Sarah Habib and TCU President Sam Wallis sent the e-mail on behalf of their respective organizations, saying they hope to foster a new tradition to replace NQR. 
 
 Students have until April 1 to submit their proposals, which will then be judged by a group of students chaired by Wallis and Habib. 
 
 Wallis and Habib, both seniors, emphasized that they want the student body to take the lead in conceiving this new event. 
 
 "There are so many creative people on this campus; let's put our heads together and come up with something new," Habib said. "Traditions are made everyday … we can create an event that strikes a balance between safety and students' morale." 
 
 Wallis hopes that this will be a unifying process. 
 
 "This allows us the opportunity to engage alumni who were here and had other traditions, which may have died; we'll look at some of those," Wallis said. "We want to tie the community together with a new replacement, rather than split us up into different groups, and come to a nice consensus at the end." 
 
 Wallis stressed that the organizers had no preconceived notion of what the replacement event would entail, although criteria like creativity, viability and the embrace of school spirit and tradition would come into play. 
 
 Habib cited examples like a winter carnival or concert as possible options but similarly emphasized that the organizers wanted to hear from students. She added, before the protest run, that she preferred students to concentrate on a constructive solution in wake of NQR's cancellation. 
 
 "I don't think it's representative of the entire student body," Habib said. "I understand why students are upset; I'm right there with them. But personally, I think the best solution to the problem is not to protest, but use that energy to move forward and come up with a new event." 
 
 Wallis is confident that the replacement event will take hold as a new component of the Tufts experience, adding that events like Fall Ball and Winter Bash had been created in a similar fashion. 
 
 Habib said that with the right support, a new event would take root. 
 
 "I think that if we are committed to putting resources behind the event, it will still exist five years from now," she said. 
 
 The organizers plan to announce the winning event proposal by the end of the semester at a celebration in Hotung Café. The winners will receive an Apple iPad. 
 
 Both Wallis and Habib expect to receive a significant number of proposals and said that response to the competition has been positive so far. 
 
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 Head over to Jumbo Slice for video and additional coverage.
– Tufts University students celebrating the end of fall classes will have to keep their clothes on from here on out, at least in the campus quad. The president of the Massachusetts school has ended the tradition of the Naked Quad Run, which attracts throngs of students who shed their clothes and run around nude in chilly December. In an op-ed in the Tufts Daily student newspaper, Lawrence Bacow says it's become too dangerous, mostly because of booze. "Even if I did not act now, NQR would end some day," writes Bacow. "The only question is whether a student has to die first. We cannot allow this to happen, and the Naked Quad Run will not continue." Students aren't happy, and dozens protested the decision by running around the quad in what the campus paper described as a "partially nude" protest.