For some University students, the term ‘a person for all seasons’ applies not just to their personalities, but to their feet as well. When not in facilities that require shoes to be worn, some students like to stroll barefoot — even with the weather turning colder and colder.

“Going barefoot isn’t really as big a deal as people often act like it is; your feet adjust quite quickly,” first-year Adam Campbell said. “Honestly, when it started getting colder, my feet were the only part of me that weren’t cold, presumably because they’ve adjusted to being exposed. I’ll probably be wearing something on my feet for the rest of the winter, if only to not stand out.”

Campbell explained that his bare feet were inspired when he and his friends at home noted how much they enjoyed being barefoot and questioned why they did not walk naturally more often.

“I’ve always liked the feel of walking barefoot, but it was sometime during the last school year that it became more of a norm,” he said. “It didn’t really affect [me] much before coming to U.Va., because at home I drove most places, and there’s nothing odd about being barefoot once you’re actually at home or a friend’s. It’s only now that I walk everywhere that it’s any more.”

Denise Berlot — who graduated from the College last fall —  has yet to remain barefoot on Grounds during the winter. She began walking barefoot when she attended summer camp at age 13, and when she went abroad for Semester at Sea, she continued this lifestyle easily.

“I … missed it when I returned home, so I decided to do it around campus,” said Berlot, who made her bare feet on Grounds a regular occurrence starting in her third year. “I really enjoy walking on the grass, and it’s what I usually do. But at the University, the streets are super clean, so I don’t mind.”

Berlot may not mind herself, but that’s not to say that she did not encounter any raised eyebrows on Grounds.

“My friends were at first surprised but accepted easily,” she said. “People stared a bit, but not as much as I expected. And one day, I saw another guy doing the same thing in the library, so it gave me confidence and I kept walking barefoot.”

In order to maintain a sense of professionalism and acceptance, Campbell said he usually carries sandals with him to put on before he goes into classes, stores and dining halls.

“If you’re respectful enough to slip on some covering in places where people might care, there’s not much that I’ve observed to come of people seeing you barefoot,” he said.

Nevertheless, Campbell said people are not always understanding of his lifestyle.

“A few times I’ve been called dirty, but I don’t eat with my feet, and as I wash my feet when I enter my dorm, my feet are cleaner than your shoes,” he said.

Students’ opinions on walking barefoot at the University vary, from stereotypes of hippies, hipsters or even homelessness. Although some students think choosing to go barefoot is appropriate under certain conditions, they disagree about the safety of doing so on a regular basis.

“Walking for a cause is understandable because it helps people understand how people in other countries or cultures feel,” second-year College student Kristina Morefield said. “In general, it seems unhealthy and pointless, with unnecessary transfer of germs, more than if wearing shoes. For me, I like to keep my feet warm and comfortable when it’s warm outside.”

Second-year College student Bernice O’Brien agreed that walking barefoot for a charitable cause is worthwhile. She did not see bare feet as unclean, but she said there were better ways to draw attention to a cause “than simply going around barefoot. I don’t think it’s rude or dirty, but it’s not like they couldn’t do it while being warm and clean. It’s not really a cleanliness issue, but [my concerns are] health-wise in the winter and I wouldn’t do it to classes in the summer.”

Other students are more open to the idea, despite a personal preference for shoes.

“I’ve never walked barefoot myself in any public setting,” first-year Engineering student Jordan Kline said. “It’s just a social norm that you wear shoes. In high school, people didn’t walk barefoot … because of the health hazards, but I don’t know enough to see if that’s the same in college. In general, I don’t think [reservations about walking barefoot] are a U.Va. community thing, maybe an American thing.”

Third-year College student Nikki Dompke said she was open to the idea of going barefoot, no matter what the reason.

“I think that people have different reasons for walking barefoot,” she said. “If they’re doing it for a cause to experience how children who don’t have shoes or live in different cultures to prove a point and make a statement, then I think that’s a good reason to do it. If it’s just their lifestyle choice, then that’s their choice.”

Still, the students walking barefoot, known across Grounds by such epithets as “The Barefoot Charlottesville Runner,” said they enjoy the feeling they get out of being barefoot, even if social acceptance does not follow.

“I find that being barefoot feels much more comfortable most anywhere and is much freer,” Campbell said, adding that by allowing the nerves in your feet greater freedom you become “much more aware of your surroundings. [But] as much as I like being barefoot, lots of people ask about it, and I don’t really have any particularly meaningful justification aside from it feeling nice.”

Some barefoot students even distinguish between specifically running barefoot in contrast to walking around barefoot in general. Fourth-year College student Will Clark said he used to run barefoot, but the healthy advantages of running barefoot do not extend to walking barefoot.

“Running on grass or sand is better, but on concrete it hurts,” he said. “I used to run barefoot in cold weather, too. It took a little getting used to but it was fine. It’s better for your feet — it felt better and when I looked it up in health magazines like Men’s Health, they said the same. But I wouldn’t walk around barefoot, especially not on concrete; my feet would get all cut up.”

Berlot feels a deeper resonance between walking barefoot and the way of life opened up by it.

“There is a French saying ‘avoir les pieds sur terre,’ and the English [equivalent] is ‘to be down to Earth.’ It all means, when I’m barefoot, I feel the ground, the Earth, and I feel connected to everything and everyone.”