When I first read the letter from the Dean of Students Laurie Hamre last semester, regarding streaking at the Midnight Breakfast, I laughed. To be honest, I thought it was a joke, and so I tossed it in the recycling. However, later that afternoon when I spoke with a few of my friends, I realized that this was serious business.

When I read David McKenna's news article, "Four Midnight Breakfast streakers busted" last week, I knew that this was not the college I had applied to almost two years ago. On Wednesday, March 12th, I spoke with George Norris '03, and Meg Stinchcomb '03, to get an update on the status of their appeal hearing. Stinchcomb said, "Laurie was very cool and she heard us out, but didn't change our punishment." It is unfortunate that the decision was not overruled.

As stated in our Students's Rights, Freedoms, and Responsibilities Document, section III.C, "Students are free to support causes by orderly means so long as those means do not disrupt the operation of the College, endanger the safety of individuals or destroy property." Macalester's policies also state, "nudity in a public place is in violation of state law." My concern, however, is not with the rules or the people who make those rules, it is the principle of the matter.

The argument against the streaking was not based on what is written in our rulebooks, thankfully. It was that a student who had been sexually assaulted was offended by the streakers' naked bodies. No one on this campus wants to diminish the reality of the horrible experience of sexual assault. It is horrific, and it can be a traumatic and violent event. But naked bodies in themselves are not horrific, traumatic, nor violent. They are beautiful.

I completely believe everyone is acting with the best intentions here. Our dedicated administrators are trying to make this campus a safe and healthy space for all Macalester students. The streakers didn't intend to hurt anyone. As streaker Chris Curran '03 said, "It's important to recognize that Macalester up till now has been a place where streaking was just another fun part of college, and that's being changed. Even in times when much more important issues are pressing, I think we should be aware when small freedoms we took for granted are encroached upon."

As long as we are not harming others, we have the right to express ourselves. I do not feel that the naked bodies of our fellow students genuinely constitute a harm to others. Our campus is hardly a nudist colony, and the streakers are those who in fact have the highest respect for everyone's personal space and rights. Being naked is a celebration of our freedoms and sexual rights, not a threat.

I have been lucky enough to grow up in a pocket of the Midwest that does its best to fight back against American culture's unreasonable expectations for the human body. When I left my hometown of Grinnell, Iowa, for the big city of St. Paul, Minnesota, I came for not just the liberal arts education, but the liberal arts experience. I truly believe that part of what a liberal arts experience should include is the right to get naked!