“People really like to run naked for what they believe in.”
The words of business sophomore Garrison Rhakovich proved true Thursday night when approximately 1,000 people attended the third annual Streak Hathaway event. David Lindstrom, business senior and founder of the event, said he raised more than $1,300 for the cause by selling official Streak Hathaway T-shirts. This was the second year the streak raised money for breast cancer.
Rhakovich didn’t participate but came to support his friend, streaker and business sophomore Daniel Ferras. Ferras said this support proved crucial in his quest to raise awareness about breast cancer.
“I couldn’t have done it without team support, without the atmosphere of people on campus,” he said. “I know a lot of people taken from cancer; this was for a great cause.”
The event was slated to start at 11 p.m., but by 10:45 p.m. only a few people were milling around. However, over the next half hour, hundreds of people — some wearing the distinctive, bright blue official T-shirts, others in bathrobes, tear-away boxers and underwear — gathered next to Campus Bottle. Hundreds of fully-clothed people lined the sidewalks waiting for the run to start.
Though the event was not organized with the city’s input, Sgt. Keith Sturton, who came to maintain order on a bicycle, said the event was legal.
“It’s a legal event, other than pedestrians crowding the roadway. We just showed up to make sure control was maintained.” He added that as of 11:30 p.m., there were no problems and everyone was “being very nice.”
Business senior Lindsay Lara and her friends, some of the small minority of women participating in the event, said they wanted to support breast cancer awareness. But she added, “If you’re not going to do it now, when are you going to?”
By 11 p.m., the streets were packed and a large group of people congregated in the middle of the street. After chanting and undressing, they started down the street.
It was quite a sight — hundreds of students, many naked, some in underwear and others fully-clothed looking like they just wandered there by accident, ran down the street while police officers on bicycles watched from the sidewalk.
After reaching Slack Street, the group turned and ran back to California. Some put their clothes back on and others, unwilling to end the event, turned around and ran up Hathaway again.
Materials engineering freshman Kyle Logan and business freshman Andrew Smith participated in hopes of improving upon their own streaking attempt.
During high school the two friends had tried to organize a streaking event across a football field but “it didn’t really work, no one followed us,” Logan said.
So they showed up on Thursday because, as Smith said, “nudity can help the world. People are afraid of it, but they should embrace it. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Streak Hathaway was founded three years ago by Lindstrom, who said the idea “came out of nowhere.”
“I thought Poly needed a new tradition,” he said. “I know streaking is sort of cliché, but at the same time, it’s not something too many colleges do.”
After a small event with 10 to 15 participants that year, Lindstrom decided he needed to increase the legitimacy of the event by making it philanthropic.
So he starting selling T-shirts to benefit breast cancer research, because as he put it, “it was between breast cancer and testicular cancer, and breast cancer seemed more appropriate.” He added that he’s had family friends affected by the disease and wants to help shed light on its effects.
Each year the event has grown bigger and Lindstrom foresees it continuing to grow, even after he graduates next fall.
“There’s someone very interested in running it after me,” he said.
Students seem prepared to continue the tradition both for personal reasons and the enjoyment of letting it all hang out.
Wine and viticulture freshman Evan Klein-Korman said he was “doing it for my mama who just finished hormone replacement therapy from breast cancer.” He said that she doesn’t know he is streaking in her honor. “And she doesn’t need to,” he added.
Other students, such as the previously mentioned Smith, are simply “down to run naked to promote stuff.”