It was the primary day or so after I moved into the Cumberland Corridor dorm on the College of Maryland after I began listening to about guys from one of many close by dorms, possibly Chestertown Corridor, who would streak by way of the quad.
I figured it was some custom that carried over from the Nineteen Seventies however wasn’t truly occurring anymore. And I don’t bear in mind any dorm streaking whereas I used to be dwelling in Cumberland.
However whereas I used to be pledging, there was one night time after 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, and so they had 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 beneath our garments as a part of a pledge exercise. After we arrived, we had been ushered into their TV room and advised to take off all our garments and run across the sorority home — by some means, this was a sanctioned occasion between our frat and the sorority.
Once more, as we returned to the TV room, our garments had 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 selection about stripping bare after I was a pledge. These had been occasions after we needed to do it as a part of the pledge class. It was form 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 quite a few occasions after I grew to become a brother in Pi Kappa Alpha (PiKA).
There was a practice the place anytime one in every of our brothers bought lavaliered (slightly 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 massive anchor in entrance of the Delta Gamma sorority.
I used to be on that anchor a couple of occasions, since I gave lavaliers to 2 girlfriends and in addition a pin to one in every of them. Every time I bought tied up, I needed to look ahead to my girlfriend to come back and untie me.
Fortuitously, this was lengthy earlier than everybody had a digital camera cellphone of their pocket, so I don’t suppose there’s any photographic proof of it.
Nevertheless, one other custom we had was that pledges would kidnap the fraternity President-elect, and I was that guy 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 bought 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 digital camera 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 picture was rated PG.
In 1992, I additionally began up a Greek life newspaper called the Greek Times, and one of many cowl pictures 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 quilt 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 is likely to be a candidate for the Pulitzer Prize for Pictures, so I went with it.
It was a enjoyable time whereas it lasted, however I’ve been pleased to navigate the world with garments on since these days.
