Earlier reports had Tony Matelli’s Sleepwalker sculpture disappearing from the Wellesley College campus this spring, but the school says the piece will remain outdoors until July 20, when it will be returned to the artist. That’s when Matelli’s New Gravity exhibit closes at the Davis Museum.

Just imagine how crushed many students from the Purple class of 2014 and their parents would have been if on Commencement Day (May 30th) they couldn’t take photos with the Sleepwalker, who no doubt will find himself sporting a cap and gown. The Sleepwalker will also be around to greet alums who will be in town in early June for their reunion.

Matelli is said to be making additional versions of the Sleepwalker as well (maybe our April Fools item wasn’t so far-fetched?  Sources confirm that Wellesley commissions more near-naked Sleepwalker statues)

While some might think the Wellesley College community has issues with the naked or near naked body in light of controversy over the Tighty Whitey Man sculpture that arrived on campus this week, that’s actually not true at all. In fact, the sculpture might find himself freaked out by a couple of supposedly popular student activities.

Indeed, the top item listed on the College’s “50 Things to Do Before You Graduate” list is “Run naked across Severence Green” and #7 is “Skinny-dip in Lake Waban.”

Let’s just hope students hold off until Spring to get going on those items.

The creepy sleepwalker sculpture sporting nothing but tighty whiteys on the Wellesley College campus now has his own Twitter account: @WCSleepwalker.

The realistic-looking near naked guy, whose images have gone viral since we first reported on his arrival Monday and the ensuing controversy of whether he belongs on the all-women school’s campus, has gotten off to a fast start on the social network.  Turns out he’s a Miley Cyrus fan:

Is the new social media account part of a brilliant campaign on behalf of the College and its Davis Museum of art to promote the Tony Matelli “New Gravity” exhibit opening Thursday night? Or is this realistic sculpture really a real guy?

And don’t think the sleepwalker is stopping at just Twitter. He has a couple of Facebook accounts (and here) too.

RELATED: Before Wellesley’s Tighty Whitey Man: Armless, headless naked Walking Man

The Wellesley College near-naked sleepwalking sculpture story that broke on The Swellesley Report Monday and that we followed up on Tuesday with word that students were petitioning to get the statue inside has taken off nationally and internationally now.

The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, UPI, AP, Time, Washington Post, USA Today, Wonkette and various TV stations have since covered the story, which has even hopped across the pond to the Daily Mail.

Among the headlines:

Put some pants on! Incredibly realistic statue of man sleepwalking in his underwear causes a stir at all-female Wellesley College (Daily Mail)

Wellesley’s naked older man statue is a lesson in humanity (Washington Post)

Incredibly Life-Like Statue of a Man In Just His Underwear is Scaring Students At Wellesley College (Buzzfeed)

The controversial Tony Matelli sculpture of a zombie-like guy in his undies on Wellesley College’s campus isn’t the first scantily-clad dude to make his mark at the all-women’s school.

I recall during our early years in town coming across a nearly 7-foot-high bronze statue of Auguste Rodin‘s “The Walking Man” (described by the Davis Museum as a posthumous cast) outside at Wellesley College’s campus. Students would dress the headless, armless fellow in various ways, sometimes to mark the colors of their class year. I’m sure I took photos, but probably back in the pre-digital camera days, so who knows where they are.

According to a Wellesley College newsletter, the statue was installed at Clapp Library in 1969 and was moved outdoors to the Jewett quadrangle in 1974 “where for many years it bore the brunt of class pranks and the New England weather.” The Walking Man was brought back indoors in 2006 for restoration and placement within the Davis Museum’s confines.

The new sculpture of a sleepwalking guy in his tighty whiteys on Wellesley College‘s campus is stirring debate and discussion, including in the form of a petition on the Change.org website.

The Tony Matelli sculpture, which ties in with an exhibit opening at the Davis Museum this week, has been described as creepy and “less than brilliant” by some, whereas others say they’d be fine with it if it was inside the museum rather than lurking on campus. Some said the sculpture reminded them a flasher who hit campus a handful of years back. (More Matelli sleepwalkers here)

The Change.org petition, launched by student Zoe Magid, is addressed to Wellesley College President Kim Bottomly and Davis Museum Director Lisa Fischman. It’s titled: Remove the uncomfortable and potentially triggering statue put up without student consent. The petition had about 30 supporters as of Tuesday AM but that had grown to about 250 by Wednesday AM.

Fischman responded to the student criticism here. She wrote that “As the best art does, Tony Matelli’s work provokes dialogue, and discourse is at the core of education. An open written forum went up in the student center this afternoon to consider some relevant questions, and I invite students to stop by and weigh in. We also welcome your responses online.”

Some students protested the sculpture by putting pajamas on him overnight, but the clothes had been removed by sunset. We saw a T-shirt draped on the sculpture Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Wellesley students, alums and other observers are naturally turning to social media sites with their observations:

@Wellesley @theDavisMuseum In what universe is it acceptable to place a realistic statue of a naked man in a dedicated women’s space?

— Elisabeth (@elisabeth_caron) February 3, 2014

Pundits like Michael Graham have also started to weigh in, and publications like Boston Magazine and the Globe have followed up our initial reports.

The artist himself is slated to speak on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at the Davis at 5:30pm to celebrate the exhibit’s opening.