By George P. Hassett

After decades of Tufts University students running naked, a nude tradition has ended after Tufts President Lawrence Bacow announced Monday he would end the decades long saga of the Naked Quad Run.

“Given that we can no longer manage the run, we cannot allow this ‘tradition’ to continue,” Bacow said in an opinion piece for the student newspaper Tufts Daily. “Even if I did not act now, NQR would end some day. The only question is whether a student has to die first. We cannot allow this to happen, and the Naked Quad Run will not continue.”

In 2002, Bacow said he had his first encounter with the annual event, reportedly begun in the 1970s by male students and joined by female students in the 1980s.

“At the time, the event was completely unmanaged,” he said. “When I saw the carnage, I sent a message to the community expressing my own strong opinion that it should end. I was persuaded otherwise by students and alumni who argued that the run was a cherished tradition at Tufts and that it could be managed to make it safe. I was also persuaded by those who argued that if we tried to eliminate the run, it would only reappear in other forms that might pose even greater risk to our students.”

Instead, university support strengthened the event with crowds of hundreds showing up to watch.

“An activity that once engaged only a modest number of students now draws a significant portion of the undergraduate population. Moreover, our capacity to manage the run has declined over time. Medford and Somerville police, who previously assisted in providing security for the run, now refuse to do so, pointing out that this activity would be illegal at any other time or place. Our own police association has written to me saying that our police officers are themselves uncomfortable working the event, noting that students are not only nude but also routinely inebriated and disrespectful,” Bacow said.

Students expressed disappointment at what they called a quirky stress reliever. Bacow, however, said school officials will try to organize a campus wide winter event to replace the Naked Run.

“Traditions are important and we want to encourage them, but they also need to be safe,” he said.