Last month's Naked Quad Run (NQR) ended with the arrest of a student, prompting accusations by students that the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) inappropriately used force in an attempt to break up the event earlier than usual.
The student, a male junior, was charged with two counts of assault and battery of officers and with resisting arrest, according to TUPD's public crime log. NQR traditionally is held on the night of the last day of classes of the fall semester; this academic year it was on Dec. 10.
The arrest came after the university tried to close down the annual event earlier than it had in recent years, resulting in confusion and confrontations with the officers policing the run.
When students kept running despite TUPD's efforts to end the event at around 10 p.m., officers began to use physical force, said the students, some of whom requested to remain anonymous due to the nature of the event.
In an e−mailed response to questions from the Daily on Dec. 14, Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said that the police did not initiate physical force. But multiple students who attended NQR have questioned that version of events.
In one instance, according to witnesses, officers pinned a naked male student to the ground. Reitman said the individual "had punched an officer in the face." The student ran away when the officers were not paying attention, witnesses said.
Reitman said that the incident occurred when officers in front of Olin Hall had been waving students off the course.
"Some participants did not slow their pace at all, but rather charged right at the officers, who put up their arms to avoid being bowled over," he said.
When officers began to pursue the student who had run away after being pinned down, another male student who was wearing boxers stepped in and tried to prevent them from catching the other student, witnesses said. That student, the male junior, was arrested for assaulting a police officer and a correctional officer, according to the public crime log.
But students who witnessed all or parts of the incident surrounding the arrest said the student did not actually appear to assault an officer or resist arrest.
The case against the student in Somerville District Court has since been dismissed, according to an official in the court's probation's department.
Middlesex District Attorney's Office spokesperson Cara O'Brien said that on Dec. 30 the student was placed on a weeklong pretrial probation during which he had to write a letter of apology to a police officer and complete community service. The official in the court's probations department confirmed that the student had completed any responsibilities he had and that the case had been dismissed earlier this month.
The student who was arrested last month declined to comment on the record and did not respond to messages earlier this week. Reitman would not provide further details about the case, explaining that it was currently being processed in court and the Tufts student judicial system; Reid, too, last month declined to comment on the case.
TUPD Capt. Mark Keith last month deferred initial questions to Reid and has not returned multiple voicemails and e−mails over the last month requesting further comment. Reitman over the past week did not respond to messages requesting additional comment, and Director of Public Relations Kim Thurler yesterday said that no further information was yet available.
The Middlesex Sheriff's Office helped TUPD police the event, Reitman said last month. A spokesperson for the office last month did not return a call for comment. Reitman said that student safety took priority in the call to stop the run earlier than normal. The run this year started earlier than usual and was therefore shut down earlier, he said.
"Over the years, we have seen the majority of incidents and injuries occur toward the end of the event, and that the number of injuries increases as the hour gets later," Reitman said. "Trying to end the event, whenever that happens, is always a challenge," he added.
The university during the night of NQR also received reports of two injuries from falls, including one student with a cut chin and another with a cut lip, according to Reitman. Nine people were brought to the hospital due to substance abuse, while two others refused transport, he said.
In addition, that night TUPD removed a disruptive student from the emergency room at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Medford, and returned the student to campus, Reitman said. Police did not arrest the student, who was waiting for a friend, he said.
"Clearly, this year's event presented problems," Reitman said. "Administrators and officials from TUPD will do a thorough briefing of the event."
Overall, though, the Programming Board's leaders said NQR proceeded smoothly. Free doughnuts and complimentary T−shirts went quickly, and a DJ from WMFO Freeform Radio was popular, according to co−chairs Adam Fischer and Sarah Habib, both seniors.
"It was a very successful event," Habib said. "It takes a lot of work to put on NQR to make it safe for the runners. It's a large coordinated effort throughout the university." Carter Rogers and Andrew Morgenthaler contributed reporting to this article. Editor's note: A version of this article appeared on Jumbo Slice, the Daily's news blog, on Dec. 17, 2010.
