Since the University administration will not be hiring security personnel for the Naked Bike Ride, some students are taking the safety of their peers into their own hands.   Junior Dale Osef began a student safety initiative called the UVM Green Caps, which will work with police services to act as a university-wide safety patrol on the last day of classes.   Although the University will no longer be funding the Naked Bike Ride, Osef said that he knows people will be celebrating and wants them to be safe no matter what.  

"Our paramount concern is student safety," he said. "This is a great chance to prove to ourselves and the administration that we are both a caring and responsible student body."

  The UVM Green Caps are reaching out to groups such as Volunteers for Action, Inter-Residence Association, Greek life and SGA for support, Osef said.   At the SGA meeting Tuesday night, senator Kyle DeVivo wanted to make it clear that the administration cannot cancel the naked bike.   “The Naked Bike Ride is not and cannot be cancelled because the premise of the event itself is legal,” DeVivo said. “In the state of Vermont it’s legal to be naked as long as you’re not having sex.   “And it’s also legal to ride a bike,” he said.   SGA President Julian Golfarini said that he thought the administration handled the situation poorly.   “I thought they had very little foresight,” Golfarini said. “So when they came to me and they were like ‘please help us figure something out,’ I was like ‘no, you guys can handle that because you guys botched it up.'”   The UVM Green Caps will be wearing green beanies to stand out in the dark and will be stationed in several locations on campus, Osef said The Green Caps will be provided with a list of resources, asked to keep an eye out for students who are in danger and contact the appropriate resources, he said. Volunteers will not be asked to intervene in dangerous situations.   “The last thing we want to do is put our volunteers in danger,” Osef said.   Osef said that he is looking for 200 volunteers to spread among all four campuses, and students that want to become a Green Cap can attend a meeting at 10 p.m. in the Silver Maple Ballroom on Dec. 7.   Senator Connor Daley said that he is happy students are looking out for their peers.   “I think the safety of students is our primary concern, so I really like that it’s not a senate-led initiative, but a student-led initiative,” Daley said.    Junior Allyson Kraus said she had found the event to be a fun and unique way to de-stress and was critical of the administration’s decision to cancel funding. “I think the way they are going about it is not the most effective way at all,” she said.  “All they’re doing is taking away security. It obviously is still going to happen.”   Students interested in volunteering can e-mail Osef at [email protected].