Gone With The Wind: The Quad Experience

The Quad Experience: 50-Year Tradition Discontinued

As Emma Kahle ’26 shuffled out of the Gunnison Memorial Chapel during first-year orientation, she was shocked to see hundreds of naked upper-class students waiting outside. She watched as orientation leaders and community assistants sprinted through the rain, trying to create barricades between the unclothed swarm and the first years, yet the streakers still managed to break through. 

“It was a crazy experience walking out of the chapel and being greeted by the entire senior class naked,” said Kahle. “The seniors were clearly having the time of their lives together, and I felt really excited to be able to develop that same sense of friendship over the next four years.” However, Kahle — like many — had no idea this would be the last iteration of the tradition.   

The cancellation came after SLU administrators became concerned for student safety following the 2022 iteration of the ceremony, which Kahle experienced.

An Aug. 15, 2023, email from Vice President for University Communications and Institutional Strategy Paul Redfern cited an informal SLU tradition where upper-class students streak across the Richard F. Brush ’52 University Quad at the ceremony’s conclusion as the basis of those concerns. “There has been widespread concern expressed by many members of our community, including students,” wrote Redfern. “The event had caused feelings of a lack of belonging, physical injuries, psychological harm, and concern about hazing.” His email was co-signed by 24 other SLU administrators, including President Kate Morris. Morris later told The Hill News that “Every Laurentian deserves to live, learn and work in an environment free from these worries.”  

The Quad Experience was traditionally conducted on the Brush Quad — except for instances of rain — on the evening before the first full day of orientation. First-year students, each holding a candle, gather around the perimeter of the quad. One by one, orientation leaders light the candles. Then, students, with the lit candle as a focal point, were asked to reflect on their past before considering their future at SLU. Then, the foreword to the 1965 book “Candle in the Wilderness” is read aloud. “When St. Lawrence University was established,” wrote Owen D. Young 1884, one of SLU’s most influential alumni, “it was said of the founders’ they have lit in the wilderness a candle, which will never be extinguished.”    

The candles would burn for several minutes before students were told to blow them out, concluding the ceremony just before the streakers sprint through the quad.  

Organizers were caught off guard when they had to move the 2022 Quad Experience to the Gunnison Chapel due to thunderstorms. “It was the first time in over ten years that it had rained for this experience,” said Senior Associate Director of Campus Activities & Residential Engagement Ashlee Downing-Duke. “It led to lots of rash decisions being made by a large group of intoxicated seniors.”   

According to Associate Dean of The First-Year Program Jennifer Thomas, upper-class streakers were jumping on and making direct physical contact with first-year students outside the chapel. “It was not a positive experience for anyone involved in any way,” she said.   

Former deans of the First-Year Program Ginny Schwartz and Dick Baroody ’72 created the Quad Experience in 1974 as an experiment­­­ in helping first-years connect to SLU. “We wanted to create an experience to start the semester for these first-year students,” said Schwartz. “We had no idea if this was going to be embraced or what the reaction would be, but we knew we wanted students to connect to St. Lawrence, their resources and ultimately themselves.”  

While the origins of the Quad Experience itself are clear, the origin of the student-led streak is unknown. Executive Secretary of Student Life Elaine White said that the streak was initiated by a lone student that some believe was a member of the cross-country team. However, this explanation is not backed by any tangible evidence.  

The 1974 Quad Experience had no trace of streakers, according to Schwartz. When students began streaking during the ’70s, it was only two or three of them. “We decided that we would just let it happen; they raced away, and everyone got a giggle,” said Schwartz. It was not until the 90s — when Schwartz returned to campus after a 10-year absence — that the number of streakers increased. It was then that the streak became more orchestrated. However, Schwartz did not find the change incredibly disruptive.   

According to White, in the late 80s, just before Schwartz’s return, SLU administrators created a tri-partite committee to restructure orientation that suggested the Quad Experience be eliminated. SLU students voted down that motion, citing their value of traditions, preventing the experience from being canceled three decades prior.  

Downing-Duke said that the streaking numbers skyrocketed in the Fall of 2000, which is when it started to become a problem. “It has ebbed and flowed for the last twenty years,” said Downing-Duke, also noting that the number of students participating and their subsequent behavior became a big topic of concern in 2014.   

Schwartz, Thomas, Downing-Duke and White all hope to see the Quad Experience return in some capacity. Thomas and Downing-Duke say that cooperation between the senior class and first-years could create a new tradition altogether. “I hope that we can work to find other ways the senior class can express themselves that do not impact an important tradition,” said Downing-Duke of the Quad Experience.   

Kahle, now a sophomore, commiserates with future Laurentians. “I am disappointed that future students will not get to have the same experience,” she said.   

Schwartz was devastated to hear the news of the Quad Experience’s cancellation in 2023. “People are going to forget soon. A fifty-year tradition gone with the wind,” she said. “The whole thing has to be rethought, and students have to be involved. I don’t think it could be by administration alone.”