2004: UMass Officials warn Students against Streaking - 5/12/2004
UMass officials warn students against streaking
By: Matt Casey, Collegian Correspondent
Posted: 5/12/04
After planning by University of Massachusetts officials and Amherst Police for the annual Hobart Hoedown ended in a weekend of minor arrests, UMass officials are aiming to stop another UMass student tradition: Streak Night.
Streak night traditionally happens the first Friday after classes end.
Dean of Students Jo-Anne Vanin distributed a letter to Northeast living area residents April 29, informing them that the UMass police department and administration will punish any student found streaking in the quad of the Northeast Residential area, and the offender may be registered by the state of Massachusetts as a sex offender.
"The University will not tolerate events that present a danger because of crowd behavior, nor will it tolerate public acts of lewdness," Vanin wrote in the letter. "I urge each of you to take responsibility for your own actions so that all residents can enjoy spring weekends without repercussions through the Code of Student Conduct or Massachusetts general law."
The Northeast Area Government is contributing to the elimination of Streak Night by hosting an alternative event on Friday.
"We're working cooperatively with the Office of Student Affairs and the Dean of Students office to put together fantastic, novel and ambitious stress relieving activities to add to the other end of the year activities," said NEAG Governor Matt Pearlson.
Pearlson says that NEAG might sponsor a midnight breakfast, a massage therapy night, or a bus trip to the Holyoke Mall or Hadley's Cinemark Theater.
"At the moment we have tentative plans and tentative permission to do something like this," Pearlson said.
NEAG failed to host an alternative event last year. Their jurisdiction technically ends on the last day of classes, preventing them from holding any events when Streak Night occurs. To get around this problem, NEAG wants to sponsor the event through the Office of Student Affairs, but pay for it with NEAG funds.
"We were very prudent in how we spent our budget," Pearlson said. "We have a surplus of money that we have allocated for the possibility of this event."
Pearlson said that the administration is cooperating, but whether the alternative event can happen is still in question.
At a meeting on March 30, NEAG Treasurer Justin May suggested a "Dance in your Underpants" event as an alternative to Streak Night. May said that "Dance in your Underpants" would allow students to strip down to being "almost naked," wearing swimsuits or boxer shorts. May said Pearlson and other NEAG officers thought an event like this could turn into streaking too easily.
Whether or not the alternative event happens, UMPD plan to patrol the North East quad Friday night.
"People have a right to gather, but they do not have the right to engage in criminal acts," said UMass police Chief Barbara O'Connor.
"We'll certainly take action if the event starts to evolve," said Vanin.
The Administration and campus police cracked down on Streak Night after the event in got out of hand in the spring of 2002.
At the 2002 event, an inebriated female student performed a sexual act on an inebriated male student. This prompted police to break up the event. Six students were arrested on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to assaulting an officer.
"I can tell you that what has occurred up there since 2002 crosses the boundary of good fun to completely unacceptable behavior," said O'Connor.
Last year, Vanin distributed a similar letter to residents living in the Northeast residential area. Police prevented an event of significant size from taking shape by patrolling the quad, but several students later reported streaking after police left.
Last year's crackdown followed the riot that took place on Hobart Lane during the annual Hobart Hoedown. The riot resulted in 45 arrests, several thousand dollars in damages, and 15 injured officers.
Streak Night started as an annual event in the 1970s as a manifestation of students dealing with pre-finals stress.
"Students do need a release before finals," Pearlson said. However, he feels that the time for Streak Night is over.
"It's dead. It's off the table. It should be off everybody's mind. It's time for the event to change."
Vanin said the administration intends to act preemptively to stop the event.
"To take the approach of how much can we let happen before it goes over the top, I don't think that's the right approach," she said.
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