Apr 14, 2002 3 min read

SWARTHMORE, Pa. (AP) – Once a semester at Swarthmore College, some male and female students run naked through the halls, collecting money for the school’s rugby teams, a decade-old tradition that has recently come under fire. “It’s kind of like a gauntlet, and we just run through grabbing money,” said Brett “Cooter” Klukan, 20, of Pittsburgh, just before strolling naked except for a cowboy hat down a hallway lined with screaming, money-waving spectators.

Five members of the men’s 22-member Evil Buzzard Rugby Club and 15 women from the women’s team jogged or strolled through Parish Hall on Friday, grabbing bills and bags of change from the hands of about 150 students, faculty and parents.

“This is my fourth year doing this,” said senior Emily Sigalow, 22, of suburban Cleveland, co-captain of the 30-member women’s team, who admitted having been embarrassed the first time. But “then you kind of get over it and lose your shame – and your pride,” she said.

The Dash for Cash is held once a semester on the 1,400-student Delaware County campus, known more for bright students and tough workloads than for such campus hijinks.

“It is my sense that various schools have naked traditions, and this is how it manifests itself at Swarthmore,” said college spokesman Tom Krattenmaker.

This year’s Dash, however, was held at the same time as Family Weekend, so the audience for the 1:02 p.m. event also included parents, some unsuspecting.

College lore has the Dash dating to 1989 or 1990, when male players at times streaked through dorms for free. One fateful night, however, some girls requested a second streak, and the men agreed to do so – if they were paid.

The team “figured it might be a good idea,” said captain Pablo Montagnes, 22, of Toronto, and a tradition was born.

This year, the event came in for some unaccustomed criticism. Religion professor J. William Frost, writing in the student newspaper, the Phoenix, in January, compared the event to a wet T-shirt contest.

Members of the women’s rugby team fired back the following week, calling the experience “positive and liberating” and denied that it had anything to do with sexual obscenity.

“Anyone who has participated in or observed this event would not describe the chaotic sprint through Parrish as erotic,” said the letter signed by 10 players.

“The Dash is recognized for its fun absurdity and unique tradition.”

This semester, in keeping with tradition, the women ran at breakneck speed, screaming and dropping the donations. The men followed, walking at a more leisurely pace, sweeping for the money the women either dropped or missed.

Then, two minutes – and $280 – later, the event was over.