As It Were: The Naked Roundup

A single hope unifies Primal Screamers: that their faces and bodies will never be linked. Only the Harvard University Band-induced bottleneck of shame, the ice-paved track and sharpshooting FM photographers stand in their way. Are other co-leaguers as willing to bare all? Consider:

BROWN

At Brown, co-op houses hold invitation-only naked parties-the only distinction from a normal party being that everyone is in the buff. "There is a lot of eye contact. No one wants to be caught checking someone else out, so everyone just looks each other in the eyes exclusively. There is, however, a lot of across-the-room gazing at people," admits junior Jonathan C. LaRosa. In addition, the hosts provide body paint for public consumption: "Most of us stuck to the above-breast area and above for painting a girl, but some people were into some crazy shit. As far as a party, it kind of sucked. I mean, the music wasn't that good, the beer ran out at like 11:30-this can be very bad for some who are less endowded than others-and at some points in time it was just too crowded." In addition, students can often be seen naked in the libraries around exam period, handing out donuts.

YALE

Similar gestures can be found at Yale, where a group of seniors known as the Pundits take a break from their practical jokes to help out stressed students during finals. Patrick J. Bumatay, a junior, recounts his own encounter: "One girl walked over to me and handed me some chocolates and wished me good luck on finals. I reluctantly accepted the treats while desperately trying not to look at her exposed lower body. Afterward, I contemplated whether I should eat the uncovered chocolate; after all, it did come from a naked chick. I didn't know where her body had been." Other events include nude football games, the Freshmen Swim Team Strip and naked tea parties.

PRINCETON

At Princeton, the Nude Olympics is in danger of being phased out, as several students had to be taken to the hospital after what seems to be a hardcore version of Primal Scream. Junior Christopher R. Freeland explains further: "Basically everyone just ran in a big circle around the perimeter of the inside of this courtyard for about 45 minutes. I thought it would be weird, but it was actually kind of exhilarating. It was an adrenaline rush for a few minutes, but it got old pretty fast. Also, there was a ton of wide open sex, which is pretty cool, I guess. Supposedly, one group of guys (four, I think) had sex with this one girl in front of one of the deans at the Olympics."