Because Washington Square Park is undergoing renovations, NYU had to move its school-wide graduation ceremony to Yankee Stadium this year. And while there, one graduate made a splash or, rather, a diving tumble, when he ran onto the field without his pants, only to be tackled by security.
The Daily News reports that William Lopez--a Mets fan--was seated near home plate and the new graduate decided to run onto the field in the House That Ruth Built. Towards the end of the ceremony, Lopez made his move. From the News:
"I handed my keys to my friend and I gave my pants to my friend," but he kept on his boxers, Lopez said. "I didn't want to go all the way down because I thought they might nail me for public indecency."
Then, when the security guard was looking the other way, "I just made a break for it."
"I hopped down the stairs and over the divider and I'm out in the middle of the field and I'm thinking, 'Am I really doing this?' " Lopez said. "And then I start hearing the crowd."
Buoyed by the cheers, Lopez said he raced for third and "people were going crazy."
"I made a cut to the third-base side so I could run home, so it would end with a bang," he said. "Right when I got 15 feet from the plate, there was a security guard waiting for me, staring me down like he was the catcher and I was stealing home."
There, he was seized, arrested and given a desk appearance ticket.
Lopez claims that people told him his run was the best part of the ceremony, NYU spokesman John Beckman said, "it is always disappointing to us when one member of our community thinks there's a special set of rules for him or her." And Lopez's father had no idea that his son was the one who ran onto the field and told the Post, "My wife asked, 'Could that be William?' I said, 'No. That kid's an athlete."
