The Eugene Lang College campus got a little weirder last Thursday. Approximately 15 students walked around the Lang Cafe barefoot, showcasing mismatched and funky socks, and urging other students to do the same.
The shoeless movement was the result of posters that had been pinned up around Lang buildings in the days before, advertising a “shoes optional day,” for which the newly established “Lamp Club” was responsible. Though only a small number of students participated, many voiced their support from the shoe-wearing sidelines.
The Lamp Club was formed this September out of the desire to facilitate “interesting, significant, comfortable socialization” in an age where relationships are becoming more and more technology-based and “transactional,” said Lamp Club founder and second-year Lang student, Jackie McVorran. The club aims to create a space for oddballs seeking to make an impression on their fellow students with unique movements such as the “shoes optional day.”
“I would love it if it was a Lang-wide activity,” said Keb Barshack, a third-year Lang dance major.
Other students, however, had starkly different opinions on the matter.
“I think that barefoot day is gross,” said Sadie Wood, a second-year Lang student. “I don’t want to put my socks or any part of my feet without shoe protection on the floor, because it’s probably quite dirty.”
In the days leading up to the event, posters were found torn and crumpled, discarded on hallway floors. However, McVorran remained unbothered.
“I knew it would weird people out a little bit,” she told The New School Free Press.
The ultimate goal of Lamp Club’s shoes optional day was to inspire New School students to think and feel in unconventional ways by engaging in the non-typical.
“I just want some tasteful, peaceful disruption in their lives,” she said.
McVorran’s idea for barefoot day came from seeing a staple character in her neighborhood walk around shoeless. She was inspired to adopt bare feet in her own life and received responses of amusement and interest from her peers — which led her to turn the idea into a real Lamp Club event.
The group’s key symbol, the lamp, is meant to represent a warm, homey vibe.
“I feel as though overhead [lights] kind of kill vibes so easily,” Mcvorran said under the glow of the miniature lamp she provided for the interview. “This room looked fine, but like, as soon as we put this lamp on, it feels sentimental.”
Through quirky events, activities, and performances, the Lamp Club hopes to create a comfortable social environment — sans the fluorescent glow of overhead lighting.
The club is planning on hosting similar events, possibly a “No-Pants” day sometime in the future.
What a very creative way to call attention to present day social engagement. The fact that they aim “to facilitate interesting, significant, and comfortable socialization” is already a profound undertaking in itself. Certainly, a valuable student project that should be institutionally supported.