January 21, 2000 10:29am
Princeton Streakers Heed Warnings
Source: AP
(PRINCETON, NJ) -- Call it the "Nearly-Nude Olympics."
Princeton University students, heeding warnings from university officials that streakers would be suspended for a year, refrained from romping in the buff Thursday night to celebrate the season's first snowfall - an annual event that had come to be known as the "Nude Olympics."
Only a few students clad in boxer shorts and T-shirts ventured outside into the 25-degree chill to carry on a semblance of the tradition. A large contingent of campus security and emergency medical personnel kept a close watch on the campus.
There was one report of a streaker, but the individual wasn't caught, university spokesman Justin Harmon said Friday. No one was charged with violating the ban.
The Nude Olympics tradition began in the 1970s when students streaked across the campus on the year's first snowfall. It became an annual event confined to one of the school's oldest courtyards.
University trustees called for the event's end after 10 participants were hospitalized with alcohol poisoning last year. Officials said there were reports of women being sexually groped, nude runners urinating in public and couples engaging in sex.
Proposals for an alternative to the naked run - including a tropical party, an outdoor dance and a snowball fight - were all nixed by administrators. Students decided against the only plan that was approved - to burn an administrator in effigy.
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