Getting naked has never been so socially acceptable.

The Undie Run, to be held May 3 at 7:30 p.m. and organized by Phi Gamma Delta, is an event that brings people together to donate the clothes they are wearing and run on the Lakeshore Path to help raise money for Cancer for College, an organization that provides college scholarships to cancer survivors, according to the race’s organizers.

Fiji partnered with the national organization “Undie Run,” that was founded in 2006 at San Diego State University by Ryan Tisinger and Kyle Kuhlmann, Tisinger said in an email to The Badger Herald.

“The Undie Run is an event in which young people gather and literally donate the clothes off of their back – come clothed, donate the clothes you are wearing – and run a short distance to help those less fortunate,” Tisinger said.

They coined the name through the process of elimination, thinking “Underwear Run” was “merely descriptive and sounds lame,” Tisinger said. He said he and Kuhlmann have always participated in charity work and community service but added they wanted to make it more fun, comedic and social.

The organization works on setting up Undie Runs across the world year-round, according to Tisinger. He said it usually takes about three months of planning and organizing for each event, making it quite a daunting process.

However, since the event’s founding, students have donated more than 200,000 pounds of clothing and more than $60,000 to local charities, making all the time and energy well worth it, Tisinger said.

For this year’s challenge, the national organization partnered with Will Ferrell, Joe Snodgrass, Fiji member and coordinator for the Madison event, said in an email to The Badger Herald. Because of Ferrell’s well-known days of college streaking as seen in the movie “Old School” and his dedication to the community, Snodgrass said he thinks Ferrell is great for the job.

Ferrell’s friend and Delta Tau Delta fraternity member at University of Southern California, Craig Pollard, founded Cancer for College after two long bouts with Hodgkin’s disease, Snodgrass said.

Every $25 a participant raises or donates enters them into a raffle to win a trip to Atlanta on April 25, 2014 to meet Ferrell on the set of “Anchorman Two,” in addition to being an extra in the movie, Snodgrass said.

“Badger students [will show] the world that when it comes to philanthropy and being sexy at the same time, no other university can even come close,” Snodgrass said.

Fiji is asking for a few articles of clothing and a suggested $10 donation at the event, Snodgrass said. 

The opportunity to enter the contest to meet Ferrell ends April 19.