Ryan ChartrandCal Poly has a new tradition, one that dwarfs the now-dying Mardi Gras celebrations and also contributes to a cause. And while it does not entail the same riotous behavior of Fat Tuesday, it still encourages the display of the student body.
Roughly a thousand people lined Hathway Avenue on Friday night – from Campus Bottle to where Carpenter Street joins Hathway – to witness the sophomore outing for the Streak Hathway event. And this time, it wasn’t just about naked people; it was also about raising money for breast cancer research.
The street was relatively quiet before 11 p.m., when the streak was scheduled to begin. Business senior Matt Johnson said he arrived at 10:40 p.m. and “there was no one.” He then added that at 11 p.m., “They all came out like the munchkins in ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ ”
Those waiting to streak donned bathrobes, tear-away pants and other easily-removable clothing. Also among the popular fashion choices was the official “Streak Hathway 2008” T-shirt, which was sold to raise money for breast cancer research.
“I just love being naked,” wine and viticulture freshman Taylor Tabusa said. “To be honest, secondly it’s for the cause. My mom had breast cancer and she got over it.”
Wearing said T-shirt and tear-away pants, forestry and natural resources freshman Sean Martin said he was baring it all because “it’s the best reason for streaking I’ve ever had.”
One of the few women participating in the run, philosophy freshman Alison Bode said she was streaking because, “my mom has never done anything crazy in her life, so I don’t want to grow old and have no crazy stories.”
The naked festivities got off to a staggered start as four students ran naked down the street and no one else followed. Shortly after, a larger crowd of about 50 students began their bare-bodied jog. Some wore just hats and shoes, some just shoes, others underwear and shoes. One played a trombone while he ran.
The crowd lined both sides of the street to watch the nude joggers, hooting and hollering and standing shoulder-to-shoulder, three and sometimes eight people deep.
Another large group of students stripped and started running shortly after.
The streakers followed Hathway toward campus, and some began ducking into bushes and behind parked cars to redress when they reached Kentucky Street. The others ran until Hathway Avenue turns into Longview Lane, then turned around and began walking back the way they came, still naked.
Biomedical engineering freshman Brian Wong observed the streak and said, “it was funny as f-k. They should have this every year.”
After the streakers ended their jog, mechanical engineering senior Kevin Walsh ran the street wearing only shoes, a backpack and a biking helmet – complete with flashing safety light. He said he arrived 15 minutes before 11 p.m. but “I guess they left without me.”
Things died down shortly after midnight and motorcycle police drove up and down the street to move the crowd from the road to the sidewalk. Spectators dispersed soon after.
How it all began
Streak Hathway is the brainchild of economics junior David Lindstrom and business junior Bryan Collings.
“We thought that we would bring a new tradition to Cal Poly,” Lindstrom said.
Over the summer, Lindstrom and Collings noted the large turnout for the first naked run and realized that the event could have an impact beyond Hathway Avenue. “We were like, ‘We could probably sell shirts and make some money,’ and then I thought, ‘Well, we could probably just donate it.’ ”
The duo decided to give the proceeds from their T-shirt sales to the National Breast Cancer Foundation because, as Lindstrom put it, “We’re streaking. It was either that or testicular cancer and.”
“That’s a little too blatant, you know?” Collings added, finishing the thought.
The T-shirts depict Will Ferrell’s “Frank the Tank” character from the movie “Old School” under a Hathway Avenue sign, with his line “We’re going streaking!” on the front. The back of the shirts showed Ferrell running naked and had the words “Streak Hathway 2008,” as well as the pink breast cancer ribbon.
Lindstrom said the T-shirts sold for $10 and each sale resulted in a profit of $6.50, which was donated to the cause. He said 280 shirts had been sold as of Saturday, raising $1,200, but added that he still had 60 shirts to sell.
Collings cited Campus Bottle as a large contributor to the success of the fundraising. He said the store sponsored their efforts in a way. “We gave them free shirts, and they sold them – they did all the legwork for us.”
Asked how they thought this year’s streak was, Lindstrom and Collings said the erratic beginning with some runners going too early was somewhat unfortunate.
“We had the beginning planned out,” Collings said. “We were going to go out there with a megaphone and say something right quick, and thank everybody and lay the banner out, and it just didn’t happen.”
Though the start was not ideal, Lindstrom was happy with the way the event played out.
“It was perfect,” he said. “I’m happy that no incidents occurred and the cops didn’t really have to get involved.”
He is also looking ahead to next Streak Hathway. “We’re going to go at it again next year and try to keep it going, and then figure out some way to keep it going after we graduate.”
Collings also hoped it would be around for years to come.”We want to come back when we’re 40 years old,” he said.
On next year’s agenda is a possible collaboration with law enforcement. Lindstrom might attempt to organize a closure of Hathway Avenue for the streak.
Collings joked that the collaboration may be unlikely because, “I don’t know if they’d be down to sponsor a streak.”