Hopkins: the second annual, underwear party.

[hoosier]

(William Parschalk/News-Letter)
Skin gets you in at underwear parties
By Nabiha Syed
October 08, 2004

Partial nudity and Johns Hopkins undergraduates don't always (and many contend, shouldn't) mix.

But leave it to two physics majors to prove that scantily-clad coeds are more than just fodder for D-level daydreaming: on Sept. 29, seniors Patrick Reiner and Greg Occhiogrosso threw the second annual, underwear party.

This year's underwear party was much larger than it had been previously, drawing over 200 students from both Hopkins and Towson University to the physics students' house. Thrown together in less than a week, the party came back due to overwhelming demand.

"We weren't really thinking about it, but after people started asking us about it, we decided it would be a good idea to throw it again. Most parties at Hopkins are so similar, we just wanted to do something unique, something that isn't usually done here," said Occhiogrosso.

Stanford has Exotic Erotic, Yale has the Pundits and their naked parties and Harvard has Primal Scream But for some reason, narcissistic exhibition of anything besides SAT scores and GPAs is not an essential part of most Hopkins traditions.

Maybe studying Orgo while undressed is distracting. Or maybe students are afraid to disobey the sign in MSE that demands that they do not remove their shirts.

Party attendees did laud the experience as a cathartic, much-needed outlet for the frustrations many students face in the stressful academic environment.

Students also found that the atmosphere leaned more towards relaxed than a lusty meat-market.

"It was a comfortable, normal party, with room to move around without being 'accidentally' groped by random people. It wasn't sketchy. I think the fact that everyone was in their underwear made people a little more self-conscious and cautious, and thus less likely to thrust their crotches out at others," says sophomore Sylvia Zhu.

Most students arrived fully clothed and then disrobed upstairs, revealing as much as they deemed comfortable. In true Hopkins fashion, the attire ranged from the conservative to the bizarre: students were clad in everything from shorts and tank tops to bunny suits.

"As strange as it sounds, it was normal to be wearing your underwear. We tried to enforce the underwear-only rule as much as we could. You were pretty much shunned if you weren't in your underwear. Granted, most guys were wearing boxers and there weren't really any girls in g-strings or thongs, so it wasn't too scandalous anyway," says Reiner.

Of course it wasn't too scandalous. This is still Hopkins -- let's not get ahead of ourselves here. The unusual dynamic of the party attracted a curious cross-section of people, including those disillusioned with the traditional overheated, overcrowded frat basement and Natty Bo scene.

"Usually when you go out, you see the same people over and over and you tend to forget that there are people who just aren't into the frat scene. At the underwear party, I saw so many people that I didn't even know knew each other, just relaxing and having fun. You see the Physics kids hanging out with the IR kids, the Public Health kids dancing with Computer Science kids ... it was really great to see everyone together," says sophomore Marie Mounier.

Although party organizers consider the evening a success, this may be the event's last year, since both Reiner and Occhiogrosso are graduating this spring.

It may become a unique tradition that underclassmen hoping to help fellow Hopkins students let go of inhibitions will continue.

That would be a likely reality if people agree with sophomore Abby Robinson who considered the party a lot of fun.

"It was the best I've been to this year -- maybe the best I've been to at Hopkins," she says. "There should definitely be more parties like it."

[kddani]

hoosier, why the hell do you post this stuff that's not even greek related, especially in the GREEK LIFE forum?

[hoosier]

Originally posted by kddani
hoosier, why the hell do you post this stuff that's not even greek related, especially in the GREEK LIFE forum?

1 - there are frequent posts looking for ideas for events

2 - maybe if some of these hazing chapter did underwear parties, they wouldn't devote their energy to hazing

3 - fun things are better than things involving excessive booze

4 - get on the cutting edge: this may be the next big thing (Are you old enough to remember previous campus crazes, like volkswagon stuffing, streaking, etc.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by hoosier
1 - there are frequent posts looking for ideas for events

2 - maybe if some of these hazing chapter did underwear parties, they wouldn't devote their energy to hazing

3 - fun things are better than things involving excessive booze

4 - get on the cutting edge: this may be the next big thing (Are you old enough to remember previous campus crazes, like volkswagon stuffing, streaking, etc.

Its not about greek life. What part of that don't you understand?

[James]

IT does mention that this party was preferable for a lot of people over frat parties.

Don't let your dissaproval of Hoosier cloud your judgement.

[DGqueen17]

That sounds like a cool ass party.

[DeltaSigStan]

Holy fuck, that was a great justification. I can't believe I agree with hoosier.

Originally posted by hoosier
1 - there are frequent posts looking for ideas for events

2 - maybe if some of these hazing chapter did underwear parties, they wouldn't devote their energy to hazing

3 - fun things are better than things involving excessive booze

4 - get on the cutting edge: this may be the next big thing (Are you old enough to remember previous campus crazes, like volkswagon stuffing, streaking, etc.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by James
IT does mention that this party was preferable for a lot of people over frat parties.

Don't let your dissaproval of Hoosier cloud your judgement.

The article is still not about greek life, and it should be extremely obvious that this thread is not even close to being in the most appropriate forum.

[Tom Earp]

OH HOOSIER, are you really an idiot?

Posing such nonsense that may be of interest to Greeks?

Oh, Bad Boy, Bad Boy.

You have no taste what so ever, I suppose You are like me and like Vanilla Ice Cream!

Oh my Why some may ask.

Da, can add a lot to the flavor of Vanilla, Espcially Cherry, Cherry Pie!

Stan, some times Hoosier is hard not to go along with with!

Being a pain in the ass is in the eye of the beholder.

PhiPiRuss, is that a yes or a no!

Love Him or not, hoosier spake the giddy up and go of the deal of Greeks! Just says and reprints what is out there, True?

[hoosier]

The only flavor of ice cream I currently have is vanilla. My favorite brand is Blue Bell.

I have a little left, after enjoying it with a fine cherry pie last week. (If you want good pie in Atlanta (or Sandy Springs), let me know. Ditto carrot cake.)

If you want to be friends, I'll share my ice cream, cherry pie, and carrot cake.

If you want to kill the messenger, I'm a huge target.

[Little E]

Beloit used to have these parties, Dressed to get Laid (people essentially went naked, though a few were more creative, for example, Post-its, fruit or plastic wrap) and Deb Ball (Guys dressed as women and women as prostitutes) however, they were banned on campus after like a 20 year tradition due to the issue of sexual assult. On a campus of 1200 we had 10 reported assults in one night, six or so of which resulted in expulsion. (expulsion is a VERY rare occurance for us) Yea nice idea, reality is that risk management (which you seem to love to post about for some unknown reason) knocks these parties out of the water. If people can't refrain from writing on eachother, how do we honestly expect that men and women are going to act like adults and be respectful while they are all naked and grinding on eachother. It sounds like a wonderful way to have nat'l up your rear.

On the other hand, they are great parties, not great insurance ventures though.

[Rudey]

We have the Lascivious Ball thrown by my fraternity back at school.

-Rudey
--The less you wear, the less you pay ladies

[XOMichelle]

Exotic Erotic is a great party.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by XOMichelle
Exotic Erotic is a great party.

What do you usually wear?

-Rudey