Teams to skip Naked Mile

By Jen Fish

Daily Staff Reporter

After 14 years of being at the front of the line of the Naked Mile, the Michigan men's rowing club has decided to boycott this year's run.

The men's lacrosse club also announced that they will not participate in the annual event, which was started by members of the rowing and track teams in 1986.

Members of both teams said they have become increasingly disgusted with the tradition, which has evolved from a show of senior spirit to a nationwide spectacle broadcast around the world on television news and the Internet.

"I'm a senior and from what I saw when I was a freshman, it's just not something that's a college tradition or a men's team tradition anymore," said Greg Walker, president of the men's rowing team.

Lacrosse coach John Paul agreed, saying, "It's just a mess."

Paul said he ran the mile himself when he attended the University but would not run with the current atmosphere. "Back then, it was just us having a good time. I wouldn't run it now," he said. "It was so different back then."

The Naked Mile initially began as an occasion for students to celebrate the end of winter classes. In the past, the rowing team has led the run along with the lacrosse team.

The event has drawn increasing criticism over the years as more and more non-University affiliated people have flocked to watch and join the run. Aside from the numerous safety issues the event presents, many of the run's critics are concerned with the possible exploitation of students from people who sell pictures and videos of the naked runners.

Interim Vice President for Student Affairs E. Royster Harper called the two teams' decisions "wonderful" and "an act of leadership."

"It's not ours anymore as a community. It's been taken over by people who take pictures for profit - people who prey on our students," she said. "It's not the same event and we act like it is."

Both Paul and rowing coach Gregg Hartsuff said the players made the decision to boycott the event on their own, although both coaches have discouraged their players from participating in the past. "I don't approve of it, but I also think the guys see how it's gotten out of hand," Hartsuff said.

Officials from the Athletic Department addressed both teams about their participation, said lacrosse captain Pierce Davis. But Davis also said the choice to boycott "was definitely a team decision."

Hartsuff added that he will be relieved to end the team's association with the event, which he sees as something that has caused his team to be taken less seriously than they could be.

"We've been looked at as the ringleaders," Hartsuff said. "But we're a different organization now."

DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily

LSA seniors Josh Klaff and Colin McDermott practice in the Huron River with the rest of the Michigan men's rowing club yesterday. Team members do not plan to run in the annual Naked Mile next Friday for the first time since the rowing and lacrosse teams started the event in 1986.