Crowding apartment balconies, clinging to street lampposts and filling campus sidewalks, about 20,000 people turned out last night to witness the Naked Mile - an annual tradition that celebrates the last day of classes. University spokesperson Julie Peterson said Ann Arbor Police Department officials said an estimated 500 University students and area residents ran naked through campus.
The Department of Public Safety made 21 arrests for minor in possession of alcohol infractions and other citations, including indecent exposure and public urination, Peterson said.
Peterson said of those arrests, four University students were given minor in possession of alcohol citations.
According to DPS reports, a 40 year-old man was arrested for masturbating in public.
"I'm relieved we had no major mishaps," she said.
As of this morning, no sexual assaults were reported to the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, said Sarah Heuser, SAPAC training and education program coordinator.
Attracting media attention from across the nation and around the world, all eyes and camera lenses were focused on the narrow path that wound its way from Washtenaw Avenue, down South University Avenue, through the Diag and ending at Regents Plaza, next to the Michigan Union.
Peterson said Ann Arbor Police Department officials estimated the number of runners to be down from previous years, but the number of spectators significantly increased from the estimated 10,000 spectators who watched last year.
University President Lee Bollinger sent a letter to University seniors last week discouraging students to run.
"I think that some students took that message to heart," Peterson said. "They made a wise decision not to get involved."
Although the event originated as a semester-end celebration by members of the men's crew and cross country teams, now many kinds of University students and local residents use it as a way to celebrate.
Spectators, many with cameras in hand, crowded along the sides of the path, as groups of Mile participants ran down the route, sometimes measuring only a few feet wide.
More than 200 student security members, organized by the Michigan Student Assembly, guarded the route in an attempt to protect the runners from broken glass and rowdy spectators.
LSA first-year student Prasad Arekapudi, part of the student security force, said his job was made more difficult because he was not wearing a yellow security t-shirt given to volunteers.
"Without a security shirt, each time I put out my arm to keep the people back, it seemed like everyone thought I was a pervert and wanted more room to look," Arekapudi said.
Some Mile participants distinguished themselves from other runners by adorning themselves with varied accessories.
While individuals wore colorful hats, ski goggles and scarves, one group of runners wore Roman legionary helmets.
One naked individual even rode a unicycle down the path.
"You've got to stand out," said LSA junior Ralph Zerbonia, who ran the Mile wearing a partial hula skirt.
LSA junior Evan Scalzo waited at Regents Plaza, with an armful of shoes and pants for Zerbonia and other runners.
"I ran last year and it's nice to know where your clothes are," Scalzo said, explaining that many runners lose items when they shed their clothes at the starting point.
At the Mile's terminus at Regents Plaza, many participants spun the Cube and later redressed, while others, including a group of unidentified males donned in Civil War-era hats, carrying sabers and toy guns, ran to the Angell Hall computing site.
"I just checked my e-mail naked," one of the group members exclaimed at the computing site.
As the group of 12 men ran through the computing site, LSA senior Kyndra Griffin worked on a Women's Studies assignment.
"This is Michigan," Griffin said, explaining that with such a large student body "you've got to expect disturbances."
Griffin said she wasn't upset with the Mile's participants.
"You can learn to ignore it or take a break and enjoy it," she said.
Other runners gathered on the steps of Angell Hall, the Museum of Art and other campus buildings to relish in the celebration.
But some building entrances were locked, including the main doors of the Shapiro Undergraduate Library.
Hannah Gilkinson, an LSA senior, who was running with a group of senior first-time participants said she was a little annoyed that the library was locked.
"We wanted to go to the places that we had spent the most time," Gilkinson said.
Though the Mile is popular among students, others encouraged students not to participate in the run.
Rick Warzywak, a representative of Campus Ministries USA, actively protested the Mile, holding a religious placard in front of the Museum of Art.
"I think it is a sign of America's debauchery," Warzywak said, adding that "the people here are lusting after flesh."
He said the Mile and other acts of student revelry on college campuses are sign of moral degradation.
"We'd like to calm the students, from the riots at (Michigan State University) to the debauchery at U of M," Warzywak said.
But to many of the students who ran, it will remain a lasting memory. "It was a liberating experience," said Mile participant Doug Boyer, an LSA first-year student.
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