ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan men’s crew (rowing) team will not participate in this year’s “Naked Mile.”

In a meeting held during the team’s opening weekend of racing in Ithaca, N.Y., the team decided it will no longer take part in the event to which it has been linked over the past 15 years. The men’s lacrosse team has drawn the same conclusions, and will join the men’s rowing team in the boycott.

“The whole event has changed,” said team president Greg Walker, a U-M senior. “With the large crowds and the heavy emphasis on taking pictures for the Internet, the ‘Naked Mile’ is no longer something the team wishes to be associated with. It used to be a fun outing, but for the past two years, it has become increasingly uncomfortable and unsafe. We don’t want our team to be linked with the circus the event has become.”

The “Naked Mile” was begun in 1986 by 12 individuals, all housemates and their friends, including members of both the U-M rowing team (at that time a co-ed club team) and the U-M varsity men’s track team. The group streaked down South University to celebrate the last day of Winter Term classes. The “Naked Mile” grew steadily throughout the late 80s and early 90s, becoming a campus tradition in which the men and women of UMRT had a visible presence.

In the late 1990s, the crowds of spectators increased to include large numbers of people not associated with the University drawn to the event by increasing media coverage, sometimes national in scope. Over the past two years, the explosion of Internet web sites devoted to the “Naked Mile” has changed the character of the event, team members said.

“I am glad the members of the team made this choice,” said head coach Gregg Hartsuff. “When people think of Michigan men’s crew, and especially the University of Michigan, we don’t want their first thought to be of the ‘Naked Mile.’ I’d much rather people associated our name with the team’s success and our outstanding athletes.”

Michigan was 12th at last year’s National Collegiate Rowing Championships, and the only club team in the top 20. This year the team is ranked 18th in pre-season coaches’ polls. Senior Steve Warner is a candidate for the U.S. Olympic Team and the current World Indoor Rowing Champion in the collegiate lightweight division. Tim Peterson, a 1999 graduate, is in the final selection pool for the U.S. Olympic Men’s Quad in Augusta, Ga. The team’s web site can be found at www.umich.edu/~umrowing.

“I would encourage others who may be thinking about running the event to reconsider. Besides one’s personal safety being jeopardized, it gives the University an unnecessary black eye. Both of these are good reasons to not run the Naked Mile anymore,” said Hartsuff.

men’s crew (rowing) teamGregg Hartsuff