When University President Lawrence Bacow last semester banned the Naked Quad Run (NQR), the decision was controversial. Yesterday, Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman followed up on the decision with emails to students and parents warning that the punishment for attempting to participate in the run this year will be a semester's suspension. With December fast approaching, here's what the campus had to say about the cancellation and Reitman's email.
"As soon as I got the email, my dad called me and said, "You are not running NQR! You have to promise that you will not run it!" and I was like ‘Yeah; I guess so." If they really want to crack down on it, that's the way they have to do it. They have to make the consequences dire. Hopefully, there will be some bad-a-- people who do it anyway."
—Gabriel Nicholas, junior
"I understand why they canceled it. They're supposed to follow the rules, but at the same time it's a very uniquely Tufts event, and I know I participated in it last year and I had a blast. I think it's a little unreasonable; there are so many other schools all across the country that do similar activities and don't have an issue with it."
-—Alessandra Abouzahr, sophomore
"I think that the punishment is unnecessarily severe. I think it's a little ridiculous that it seems like the administration doesn't trust their students. People are going to run it, but to threaten suspension is just very extreme. It's very extreme to threaten to suspend people for an entire semester for participating in NQR, especially the year right after you lose it, and it was such a cherished tradition for us. I just don't think that the alternative lives up to the original event, so of course people are going to want to do it. But I don't think that banning NQR in itself was very unfair. It was very dangerous and it was getting worse every year."
—Amber Jackson, senior
"I guess it should just be based upon previous incidents. If in the past there has been a lot of out of control behavior, like people getting injured or getting really drunk or that kind of thing, but unless that's a serious problem I don't necessarily think it should be outlawed, but I don't know what the administration is basing their actions upon."
—Shoshana Spencer, junior
"As a freshman coming in here, I can see how this was a beloved tradition for the Tufts community, but I do see logistically how the administration wouldn't permit this activity. I do think it was a bit awkward that there was such a drastic change in administration from year to year."
—Rachel Moss, freshman
