Thinking of a University that has a Naturist club? Go to Washington! Western U

[Danee]

From: http://westernfrontonline.net/top-stories/13182-dare-to-be-bare

Dare to be Bare


Megan Santos puts the finishing touches on a set of wings for Western junior Chasse Gunter. She said she liked the club’s relaxed atmosphere and positive attitude toward body image. “It’s really pro love-your-body, and it makes you feel comfortable in your own skin. And that’s really important,” Santos said.

The thought of walking around nude leaves many feeling vulnerable.
But for some, nakedness is normal.

Western senior Zac Robertson said living in the buff is something he
has grown up with.

“I grew up in a culture where people have sweat lodges, sing songs to
the earth while naked in the dark to feel connectedness,” Robertson
said.  “To me, it feels totally alright and normal.”

Robertson said he grew up in Eastern Washington and came to Western
expecting to find an extremely liberal school.

He said he was surprised there wasn’t already a nudist group
established.  This did not stop Robertson from finding his niche.

For a while he showed up naked more often than not to friend’s
parties.

“Some people started to join in at these naked parties,” Robertson
said.  “I thought, ‘wow. when people do this they feel a lot more free
so why not make a club?'”

That's how the Students for Optional Clothing club was born.

Living in the nude is empowering, Robertson said.

Club president Gavin Gladsjo said their mission is to promote positive
body image and to build faith with each other in a non-sexual way.

The club meets once a week and the meetings typically include cooking
dinner, hanging out and talking about body image and nudity, he said.

Most recently, the club held a body painting party Wednesday, March 2,
at the Alternative Library, at 717 N. Forest St.

To start the club, Robertson went through the Associated Students
board, which includes a process of consultation before creating a new
club.  AS Club Coordinator Mikaela Trott said she liked Robertson's
idea.

“I like them because they provide a great outlet for that kind of
lifestyle,” she said.

One belief the club has is supporting the National Organization for
Women who are trying to legalize women’s rights to being topless in
public, Gladsjo said.

The club members feel that women have the same rights as men to be
topless.

“We like to normalize nudity,” Gladsjo said. “I feel like in our
society we have created a stigma with it. It’s a natural state, so it
should be more of an expected thing.”

The club meets at the Alternative Library every Wednesday night.

About eight people consistently show up to the gatherings, and most
people will start out partially clothed.

The way Gladsjo sees it, it’s all about personal choice and how the
individual feels.  He always leaves his socks on in case his feet get
cold, he said.

Connecting with nature

Club members go hiking in the nude.  Non-members are welcome to join
as well, he said.
Hiking hits Robertson on a more personal note.

“When I go hiking, I feel like my eyes are closed and my nose is
clogged,” Robertson said (about being clothed). “I can’t see anything
if my skin is clothed. I need to feel the earth and what we are doing
to her.”

Riding free

Robertson co-created the annual Bellingham chapter of the “World Naked
Bike Ride,” which is a separate entity from the club.

The bike ride typically takes place during the spring.  For the past
two years, about 30 to 50 participants showed up, Robertson said.

Last year the bike ride was on graduation day, which led to two people
being arrested on campus.

Zoie Gaidos, Western graduate and co-creator of the bike ride, said
her and Robertson had a permit set for their route.  However, once the
bike ride was over, Gaidos said she headed to campus for her
commencement ceremony.

By the time she and a few others got to campus, the police were there
and arrested two people, one of them being a Western student.

Gaidos said the student involved was wearing underwear, but was still
arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure.
Robertson and Gaidos have written a formal letter to Bruce Shepard
expressing the need for university police to have a better response to
student activism.

Robertson said normally when the club has outings like this, people
are all smiles.

"Really this is for people to have some fun," Gladsjo said.  “It’s not
like we have dirty orgies.  There needs to be open-mindedness.”

[Daft]

Awesome! It always make me happy to hear about these independent initiatives