If I’d known about UCLA Undie Run when I made that awful list, it definitely would have been on there. I mean, USC’s “Primal Scream” is pretty cool and all, but listening to some dude* in your dorm yell “F***IN’ A!!!!” at the top of his lungs for 15 minutes doesn’t exactly measure up to watching a bunch of half-naked girls run around outside in the cold. So I’ll give UCLA the edge in the category of “exam-week study-break traditions.”
Now if only this tradition could be imported to USC, it would instantly improve, due to the inherent hotness of Trojan girls. :)
Photos here and here. (Warning: partial nudity! SFW, though — “unless Bruin dorks in underwear isn’t safe at your place of business,” as TrojanWire puts it.) Flickr photos here and YouTube videos here. (I haven’t seen ‘em all, so I can’t vouch for their SFW status.)
*His name was Shelton.
P.S. Notre Dame has its own finals-week tradition, and it involves full nudity: the Zahm Hall “Bun Run,” a tradition which the Zahm-ites apparently inherited from Keenan Hall and sometimes share with Alumni Hall (?). Alas, these are all male-only dorms. But if you’re into that sort of thing, here are some photos. As I said, full nudity is involved, but only the naked “buns” are shown in the photos — no, uh, “weiners.” :) You can also read Kristin’s accounts of the two most recent Bun Runs here and here.
December 17th, 2006 at 11:34:09 pm
“half-naked girls run around outside in the cold”
they’re in southern california. are you kidding me? cold? nice try.
December 18th, 2006 at 1:01:33 am
Well… the relative cold. For example, tonight in L.A., the lows are in the upper 30s to mid 40s. That probably translates to upper 40s around the time of night when this thing is happening (assuming similar weather last week). It’s not Buffalo-cold or South Bend-cold or Denver-cold, certainly, but it’s still chilly to be outside in your skivvies. And, well, you know, that could potentially make for a good show. :)
December 18th, 2006 at 2:41:56 am
nipples. shrinkage.
December 18th, 2006 at 2:58:01 am
The Zahm/Alumni croud is especially malicious. They run through the library and LaFun during the time that mazimum civilians will be there studying, knowing they will offend multiple people. For that, they are terrorists who must be stopped. Lisa, you best be packing.
December 18th, 2006 at 2:58:55 am
And by Lisa, I meant Kristen. I mix my sugarry law students up sometimes.
December 18th, 2006 at 3:30:33 am
Heh. Thanks for the clarification, Unsaid. Although I was really thinking much more about word #1 than word #2.
And Wobbly, I think Kristin’s posts make clear she was amused, not offended…
December 18th, 2006 at 4:04:36 am
She might not be, but I am. It hurts Merka. And that hurts me.
December 18th, 2006 at 10:20:45 am
I love the bun runs. In fact, I remember spring of my sophomore year, there were a couple girls that joined the Zahm group. As one girl came running out of LaFortune topless, some guy yelled out, “Hey, that guy has nice boobs!” Unfortunately, I heard the poor girl later fell down and sprained her ankle.
December 18th, 2006 at 1:49:02 pm
Small correction for you Brendan: it’s not Zahm-ites, they call themselves Zahm-bies…but their mascot’s a moose. Ah well, just thought I’d let you know
December 18th, 2006 at 5:02:20 pm
Public voyeurism is not something to be cherished. This is an embarrasment to the school, and I hope it stops.
December 18th, 2006 at 8:24:02 pm
There you are, Patrick. Isn’t the proper word “exhibitionism,” though? Wouldn’t “voyeurism” be if the tradition was to get together and peek in the showers of McGlinn?
December 18th, 2006 at 10:25:17 pm
Go ahead and bend over, Patrick, so I can remove that bug up your ass.
December 19th, 2006 at 12:09:35 pm
Well, I think exhibitionism is, by definition, public. Otherwise, we’re pretty much all exhibitionists, as few people always wear clothes while showering.
December 20th, 2006 at 10:52:16 am
Hey, I remember that guy!!