While some students claimed to be streaking just for fun-"the hell of it"-others did it for political reasons, or a combination of the two: "I'm really just a pervert at heart, but the other reason was streaking for impeachment of the president. I think all social statements ought to have political corollaries as well," one student said.
Students appeared nude in the Mt. Holyoke science center, on the PVTA, at the Smith Library, on Route 9 and even at a Zumbyes concert. Some also apparently expressed interest in invading the next faculty meeting in Converse Hall's Red Room, as well as streaking across the Amherst Town Commons.
College authorities did not seem terribly perturbed by the events. "I wish I had been there because of the feeling of the occasion-everyone having such fun. I'm not against fun," insisted the Mt. Holyoke President David Truman. Amherst College President John Ward claimed that he had predicted this would occur, as he noticed the trend across campuses, which began in California, sometimes as a form of protest, other times simply as an expressive outlet. No disciplinary action was taken, although if students had streaked through town, they could have been charged with indecent exposure. However, the general spirit of revelry and rebellion did instigate some acts of vandalism-writing "Streak '74!" in fluorescent orange-on College buildings and property.
The Student probed various professors for analyses into this unusual student behavior and returned with a variety of explanations from "boredom and confusion" to "shaking up the older generation" to a youthful declaration that "sex is not a mystery, politics is not a possibility: we're harmless."
-Priyanka Jacob