It was the primary day or so after I moved into the Cumberland Corridor dorm on the College of Maryland once I began listening to about guys from one of many close by dorms, perhaps Chestertown Corridor, who would streak by way of the quad.
I figured it was some custom that carried over from the Seventies however wasn’t truly occurring anymore. And I don’t keep in mind any dorm streaking whereas I used to be dwelling in Cumberland.
However whereas I used to be pledging, there was one evening once we needed to go to the Testudo statue in entrance of McKeldin Library, and all of us needed to strip bare, pose across the big Terrapin, and sit throughout it.
After taking an image of the undressed pledge class round Testudo, we appeared to the pile of our garments, they usually have been gone. We needed to run bare again to the fraternity home to get our garments.
Sorry to the scholars who would rub Testudo’s nostril for good luck earlier than an examination. There have been numerous bare guys on there earlier than the rub.
Then, throughout Hell Week, we went to the Sigma Kappa sorority, the place we needed to put on Speedos below our garments as a part of a pledge exercise. After we arrived, we have been ushered into their TV room and instructed to take off all our garments and run across the sorority home — one way or the other, this was a sanctioned occasion between our frat and the sorority.
Once more, as we returned to the TV room, our garments have been all gone. One other bare run from the sorority again to our home. We needed to run throughout Route 1 and previous the entire bar-goers on the best way again.
Bare Stuff After Changing into a Brother
I didn’t actually have a alternative about stripping bare once I was a pledge. These have been instances once we needed to do it as a part of the pledge class. It was kind of humorous and ridiculous, and after some time we simply had no disgrace.
However I used to be additionally in my birthday swimsuit in public a variety of instances after I turned a brother in Pi Kappa Alpha (PiKA).
There was a practice the place anytime certainly one of our brothers acquired lavaliered (a bit of gold pendant with our fraternity letters on it) or pinned (a pin with our fraternity crest) to a girlfriend, the pledges would kidnap us and tie us bare to the large anchor in entrance of the Delta Gamma sorority.
I used to be on that anchor just a few instances, since I gave lavaliers to 2 girlfriends and likewise a pin to certainly one of them. Every time I acquired tied up, I needed to anticipate my girlfriend to return and untie me.
Fortuitously, this was lengthy earlier than everybody had a digicam telephone of their pocket, so I don’t suppose there’s any photographic proof of it.
Nonetheless, one other custom we had was that pledges would kidnap the fraternity President-elect, and I used to be that man for fall 1992. After I used to be kidnapped and made to drink foolish quantities of alcohol, I ended up again in my room within the frat home in nothing however boxers.
I acquired as much as go pee sooner or later and determined to sit down due to my booze fatigue, and I used to be oblivious to a digicam in my face as I settled onto the throne. Whereas I used to be sporting nothing at that time, I ended up angled in a approach that the image was rated PG.
In 1992, I additionally began up a Greek life newspaper known as the Greek Occasions, and one of many cowl images was a unadorned brother of mine who had simply been topped the Alpha Phi Silver Sweetheart, and a bunch of brothers stripped him down and introduced him to the sorority.
I’m not certain whether or not utilizing this image on the duvet was the explanation this was my second-to-last situation of the newspaper (it was funded by the Panhellenic Affiliation and Interfraternity Council), however I believed it could be a candidate for the Pulitzer Prize for Images, so I went with it.
It was a enjoyable time whereas it lasted, however I’ve been joyful to navigate the world with garments on since these days.