Dartmouth’s predilection for streaking exposed
“Weee’re Going Streeeeaking!!!”
When Frank the Tank proclaimed these timeless words, he called upon a new generation to continue one of college’s most sacred traditions. His words were both a statement and a challenge: he was taking the plunge. Would we be joining him?
Unfortunately, in Old School at least, his plea fell on deaf ears. And yet, while his naked onstage exhortation did not elicit quite the response he was hoping for—poor old Frank ended up streaking alone—here on the Dartmouth campus, the culture of nudity remains as strong as ever.
Dartmouth College students’ penchant for going au naturel stretches back nearly a century. Green Key weekend was cancelled after Lulu McWoosh’s epic bike ride around the Green sans clothing before church services some eighty years ago. Green Key’s “Midnight Golf,” involving blankets, visiting girls, and nudity, was another epic tradition before it too was curtailed by Parkhurst Hall. Even Jeffrey Immelt ’78, the current CEO of General Electric and last year’s commencement speaker, once “borrowed” the Hanover Inn Christmas tree while streaking with a few buddies back in 1974. And in 1993, the Men’s Cross-Country team was reprimanded after streaking the Green on a sunny Friday afternoon. Clearly, everyone was doing it.
And everyone is still doing it. An underground streaking organization—informally known as the “Thursday Night Streaking Club”—now exists, originally started by a couple Engineering students looking to relieve pent-up stress. Its membership today allegedly contains several presidents of student organizations and other well-known campus personalities.
“Streaking at Dartmouth is not necessarily a function of drunken debauchery but in fact is more often just a random, fun, exhilarating time among friends,” explains Sarah Hughes ’07. “Sometimes it’s the more outdoorsy people who are into it, but it’s other people too, people who just want to do something random and slightly wild.”
The Sigma Delta Sorority is another organization notorious for its streaking activities. According to Kara Kingsley ’05, a Sigma Delt sister, streaking at Dartmouth is best used as “a release of tension during finals or tough study periods. I recommend doing it in a somewhat populous area. For instance, I may or may not have been known to streak both Novack and Collis during finals period. That way other people can benefit with a little amusement.”
But the heart of streaking at Dartmouth truly lies in two distinct streaking activities that are virtual prerequisites for graduating from the College: streaking the Green and the Ledyard Challenge. Streaking the Green is pretty much self-explanatory. The Ledyard Challenge, on the other hand, may require a short primer.
In New Hampshire, streaking is against the law. However, in Vermont it’s perfectly legal. The Ledyard Challenge is a bi-state and bi-sport endeavor that involves swimming across the Connecticut River to Vermont, scrambling up the other side, and then dashing back across the bridge to the New Hampshire side (and your hidden clothes). As many a Dartmouth student has discovered, woe to the young student who discovers halfway across that Hanover Police has seen him leave—and is now waiting for him to return. Legend has it that students have spent hours hiding in the Vermont timber waiting for H-Po to leave for more “important” business than capturing a few rebellious youths.
While many of the stories of yesteryear have been lost, those that remain may yet encourage a new crop of young exhibitionists. After all, streaking has gained almost-iconic status as an expression of youthful rebellion and freedom. A college student simply is not a college student if he hasn’t yet streaked.
“Streaking at Dartmouth is an essential part of the whole experience,” comments Kingsley. “It’s not a question of whether it’s a requirement. It’s more kind of like, would you rather graduate and have streaked? Or have not streaked?”
So the next time Frank the Tank down the hall makes his clarion call, stand a watch for one of Dartmouth’s greatest traditions: don’t let him go it alone.
