Three years after the University banned the Nude Olympics, the sophomore class and West College have finally agreed on an alternative class bonding activity.
Recent discussions between 2004 class officers, the Interclub Council and the University administration have resulted in a plan to hold the first day of Bicker and sign-ins in the nude at all clubs, according to ICC advisor Alice Teti '00.
"Some of the sophomore class officers had approached me with this idea a couple of months ago," Teti said. "I discussed it with the ICC at our last meeting, and everyone was very enthusiastic for it."
Class of 2004 president Eli Goldsmith said he hoped the plan would be a good way for sophomores to bond through a traditional Princeton event but in an environment that would be completely controlled.
"When you get down to it, the problem with the Nude Olympics was the alcohol abuse. No one ever had a problem with the nudity," Goldsmith said. "We were trying to think of alcohol-free events on campus, and what is more dry than dry Bicker?"
University Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson said this was the best idea she has been presented with since the Nude Olympics were banned.
"We were concerned about the Nude Olympics because of the amount of alcohol-related assaults and injuries," she said. "This setting is perfect for this type of activity. There will be supervision [on the part of the upperclass club members] and strictly no alcohol. I think this is a creative and smart solution."
President Tilghman agreed. "I am just so impressed with the way that the students have taken the administration's concerns into account and have come up with an idea that serves both the students and the school. I think this event will bring the students, administration and even the eating clubs closer together."
The presidents of the five bicker clubs — Cottage, Ivy, Tower and Cap & Gown clubs and Tiger Inn — see other benefits of this idea.
"This is really going to break the ice with the Bicker process," ICC president Cindy Drakeman '02 said. "A lot of people are really nervous at Bicker — especially Tower Bicker — and have a difficult time acting like themselves. This idea will really let us see who these people are. It is going to make the Bicker process real."
Sign-in club presidents were enthusiastic about the idea as well.
"We thought it was such a good idea that we did not want those sophomores who joined our club to feel left out of the bonding experience," Colonial Club president Jessica Brach '02 said. "This way, we will get to know our new members without any pretenses, and they will become closer to each other too."
Honor Committee chair Ben Shopsin '02, who began looking for an alternative to the Nude Olympics as 2002's sophomore class president, said he was pleased to see the issue resolved.
"Finally, this dark chapter of my life is closed," he said.
The plan has sparked some debate within the University community. "This is brutish behavior!" Wilson College master Miguel Centeno said. "I just do not understand this obsession with nudity. It does not make sense in an intellectual community."
Others are happy with it. "I was always surprised they banned it," history professor Sean Wilentz said. "If you look back through the history of the University, an event like this never gets to the point of being banned. Bans were reserved for much more serious offenses. It was certainly not what the founders of the University intended."
The Nude Olympics was banned in 1999 after reports of severe intoxication, sexual assault, harassment, vandalism and general lewd and raucous behavior. The combination of alcohol, nudity, mob behavior and ice created an environment too dangerous to continue, the committee on the Nude Olympics concluded. To make the ban stick, the University enacted a one-year suspension for any future participants.
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