Baker 13 celebrates 50 years of fun and foam

By Lajward Zahra     9/17/24 11:11pm

This month marks the 50th anniversary of Baker 13, one of Rice’s most famous traditions. What started as a streak in the spring of 1974 has evolved into a regular event where students don nothing but shaving cream and run through campus, continuing a legacy that blends spontaneity, humor and camaraderie.

Greg Marshall, Baker College ’86 returned to Baker as a resident associate from 1994 to 2002 and is now the director of university relations. 

 “I was very interested as a Baker alum and a Baker [resident associate] in knowing what the true history was, so I started to do interviews,” Marshall said. 

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Marshall discovered that the first “Club 13” tradition began on Friday, Sept. 13, 1974. Earlier that year, in March, Baker students had participated in a coed daytime streaking event, which followed the streaking “fad” sweeping campuses at the time. However, unlike the later “Club 13” tradition, the March event did not involve shaving cream.

“A group of men in Baker decided that they should put shaving cream on their groins and run around,”  Marshall said. “They had a couple of beers and a little bit of whiskey when they made that decision. They said they had so much fun doing it, that they decided they should call it Club 13 and do it every month on the 13th. Surprisingly, that’s exactly what happened, and it has continued for 50 years.”

The Thresher contacted former Rice students about their experience with the tradition over the years. 

Lori Taylor attended Rice from 1984 to 1986 before transferring to University of California at Berkeley and frequently participated in the runs. 

“It was so freeing, exhilarating,” Taylor said. “There were a small handful of women who would run, and I miss those times.”

For Taylor, the experience of Baker 13 was always one of respect and safety, despite the vulnerability of running nude. She spoke about leaving collaborative shaving cream body prints on windows across campus with Jim Colton, Baker ’89. Taylor and Colton married 30 years after their Rice days.

“I guess those body prints knew what we didn’t,” Taylor said. 

Christopher Coffman, Baker ’03, recalled a run on a colder day in Houston in February of his senior year.

“With the wind, I believe the temperature felt like it was under 40 degrees,” Coffman said.

Despite the cold, Coffman and one other student were determined to uphold the tradition. 

“Neither of us was thrilled about running in such frigid conditions, especially covered in only a thin layer of shaving cream,” Coffman said. “I wasn’t the most frequent runner, but I respected the tradition and knew that one of us had to make the run.”  

Coffman set off on the run alone, passing through the regular route. However, as he neared the end of the run, his friend came running. 

“He decided he couldn’t let me finish alone, so he disrobed, applied shaving cream, and we took off through the academic buildings,” Coffman said “After stopping for a beer at Valhalla, we made the final stop at the library to deposit two perfect butt prints on the doors. It was a great night, and I was proud to carry on the tradition.” 

Today, Joshua Floriano, a Baker 13’s captain, is looking forward to ensuring the tradition stays strong. 

“It’s really fun to pass on the torch, make sure it stays a major tradition,” Floriano, a Baker senior, said. “I’m hopeful that I can leave behind a diverse captain pool, because that’s what matters. The big runs — Halloweekend, first, and last runs [of the year] — have better diversity among the runners. On the regular runs we have a very homogeneous group, which cannot seem very inclusive.”

Floriano said he also plans to commemorate the tradition.  

“We’re planning on making shirts, because we’re looking at the Woodson archives, and there’s a 25th-anniversary shirt, so we want to do something similar,” Floriano said. 

Both Floriano and Marshall credit the longevity of the tradition to Rice’s culture and a culture of good-natured administration. 

“We let them have their fun, just make sure that they're safe and that no one's being creepy and weird,” Marshall said.“That's been good. [The students’] emphasis is always on taking care of the students.”

Bernard (Bernie) Yoo, Wiess ’97 and former Thresher photographer, recalled when runners interacted with former University President Malcolm Gillis.  

“It was Halloween, October 31, 1993, and a large group of runners had gathered,” Yoo said. “We stopped at the house of the newly inaugurated university president, Malcolm Gillis. It was just another fun stop in the run, but to our surprise, President Gillis actually opened the door.”

President Gillis proceeded to pass out Halloween candy. 

“The group erupted in cheers,” Yoo said.

Several days later, Yoo spoke with Gillis while photographing a university event.

“I asked, ‘What was going through your mind when a group of naked runners showed up at your door on Halloween?’” Yoo said. “With a straight face, and without missing a beat, President Gillis replied, ‘I was concerned that the runners might catch a cold.”

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