Naked Mile, Hash Bash spice up life at 'U'

Compiled From Staff Reports

BOHDAN DAMIAN CAP/Daily Hordes of nude students run through the Diag last April 22. The Naked Mile is traditionally held on the evening after the last day of classes.

Far from the stress of final exams, the crowds of football Saturday and the snowy sprawl of campus in winter hover two of the most anticipated events at the University.

Some call them fun.

Some call them disgusting.

Whatever the label, Hash Bash and the Naked Mile are two campus traditions that don't show signs of being smoked out anytime soon.

They happen every spring: two unrelated events, one featuring naked students jiggling their ways through campus, another featuring hordes of colorfully clad protesters and a peculiar smoke wafting through the Diag.

The first Saturday in April is the traditional date of Hash Bash, an event regularly attended by thousands of activists and people watchers, under the banner of legalizing marijuana.

"A little rain can't stop freedom," said marijuana legalization advocate Marvin Marvin. "They shouldn't be able to stop us from doing what we want with our bodies and our lives."

Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon said Hash Bash sends a poor message to the youth of the city.

"We have a serious problem here in Ann Arbor," Sheldon said. "This is an event which condones drug use to our young, and that is not the message that our community wants to send out about Ann Arbor."

The Naked Mile isn't run under such serious pretenses. The event, which occurs on the last day of classes each year, is a continuation of a tradition began by the Michigan crew team. But now many students participate just for fun.

"The crew team started the naked mile in the '70s," said Kinesiology first-year student Jeanine Seeger, a Michigan crew-team member. "They did it to celebrate, but I'm not sure exactly what."

LSA senior Amy St. Clair said she waited until her graduating year to run. She said the mile of freedom lived up to her expectation.

"I wanted to run since I was a freshman," St. Clair said. "It's something I'll never forget. It was so liberating."

While the Ann Arbor Police Department frowns on the events at Hash Bash, its members take a somewhat more lighthearted view at the naked students enjoying exhibitionism. AAPD Sgt. Larry Jerue said the that even though the AAPD does not make arrests, they do not encourage students to run.

"We do not endorse (the Naked Mile,) but it's good intended fun," he said. "If we were going to do something, we would come in at the end when everyone is tired -- it would not be much of a chase."

09-03-97