The naked mile hasn't been the same since about 1999.
That was the biggest year ever, when hundreds of students ran naked down South University Street, across the Diag and into Regents Plaza, (some of them celebrated by wading through the fountain near the student union, or by giving the cube a spin), and tens of thousands turned out to watch them run.
I was new to U of M in 1998, and I had no idea that there was any such event, so I was a little surprised to leave Angell Hall one evening and find naked students streaming across the diag and up the steps of the art museum. Among other things, I learned that evening that people without clothes really need to be carefully posed to look good. Running doesn't help, and I imagine stop motion photography is worse.
The tradition of running naked on the last day of classes started in 1986 when a group of athletes did it on a whim. The event got bigger every year until University President Lee Bollinger, a very dour man, made a fuss about it, and the police started threatening to arrest naked people, something they still haven't done, as far as I know.
The American Pie sequel is based on the real Naked Mile at U of M.
Personally, I think a lot of presidential hopes will be dashed by the photos that were taken that night in 1999, but I never saw any harm in letting the students have their little romp.
I'm sure there is still some surreptitious streaking going on around the end of the semester, even now. read more