Despite CSU condemnation, Undie Run to go on

The CSU administration has denounced it and the goodwill of donating stripped clothes is gone, yet the university's infamous Undie Run will once again take place Friday.

In years past, the student-run event has come with claims about its philanthropic and body-positive intentions. This year, anonymous organizers don’t appear to have made the same efforts.

The event starts at 8 p.m. near the campus recreation center for the one-mile lap around campus.

The run dates to the early 2000s, and students were asked to leave their clothes at the starting line. The clothes were to be donated to charity, though thousands of pounds of clothes made their way to the landfill instead.

In 2015, a new student organization re-branded the event B.A.R.E. (Body Acceptance Run Extravaganza), and organizers said they intended for the clothes to be donated to charity as well. However, the majority of the clothes that year were not donated because they were soaked with rain and could carry mold.

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This year's organizers have asked B.A.R.E. or a charity to take charge of the event, even though the B.A.R.E. founder firmly condemned the event last year. No organization has stepped forward to the claim the event.

In 2016, CSU officials sent a firm campus-wide email discouraging the annual event, and the B.A.R.E. founder wrote a public Facebook post: "I openly admit there are some large issues associated with this event and the pros no longer outweigh the cons, if they really ever did," the post read in part, as well as warning about the near impossibility of ensuring the safety of those who attend. 

CSU administrators cautioned that event clean-up and damage repair has cost students about $15,000 a year, which comes from their tuition and fees.

The event last year attracted upward of 3,000 students. Many attendees arrived already undressed, so fewer clothes were left behind at the starting line.

More than 1,000 people have responded to the event page on Facebook, and another several thousand have been sent invitations. 

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CSU Police will be on hand again this year to monitor attendees and break up any crowd that gathers after the event. Last year, police contacted three people for public nudity and investigated two criminal mischief incidents.

They’ll also intervene if they see criminal activity such as incidents of groping or inappropriate touching. Although no official CSUPD police reports of inappropriate touching have been filed in years past, there have been anecdotal reports, CSU spokeswoman Dell Rae Ciaravola wrote in an email.

“The BARE/Undie run is not authorized or sponsored by the University,” Ciaravola wrote. “Participants are at risk of being negatively impacted by the actions of others.”

Students who experience unwanted sexual touching any time on or off campus are encouraged to the call the university’s confidential 24-hour victim assistance team at 970-492-4242. They should call 911 if in danger.