Spring is in the air, and all thoughts are turning toward Wednesday, when — if tradition has anything to say about it — University of Michigan students, especially outgoing seniors, will turn to the streets, shed some clothing and make a celebratory run for it. Some will run to say their goodbyes to the university and their undergraduate years here. Others will run to celebrate the passing of another year and the coming of another summer. Others will run just to run. But after years of decreased participation sparked by national media attention, increased police enforcement and a university-sponsored ad campaign encouraging students not to run the Mile, many students wonder if the Naked Mile will ever be what it once was — a local student tradition, by the students and for the students.
The Naked Mile: A tradition worth preserving
Naked US students run the risk of being exposed
Police at the University of Michigan warned female students taking part in this week's Naked Mile run that they ran the risk of their pictures appearing on the Internet. The annual midnight nude race across the campus marks the end of the spring semester, and police say 1, runners, including female students, took part last year. But following the race, videos of the women, taken by some of the 10, spectators, appeared on the Internet, where they are still on sale. The police also warned women of the risk of sexual assault from spectators, and warned all participants they could be arrested for indecent exposure. However, the university police chief acknowledged the popularity of the year-old run, and said his main concern was to protect the students.
Is the naked mile real?
The Naked Mile occurred up until at the University of Michigan. Officials cracked down on it beginning that year and it seems to have ended. About two years later a movie plot was based on the annual event. Different states have different levels of prudishness enacted into law. Most states seem to have outlawed nudity in public.
Print E-mail Letter to the editor. I am a junior and have every intention of running in the Naked Mile next year. It is not only as cool a tradition as exists on any college campus in this country, but it is I was surprised to find the Michigan tradition for which the school is best known.
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