It was a cold and snowy afternoon, and Erica Eads looked on in horror as a man wearing shorts crossed Washington Avenue in Stadium Village.

“That would be a pants-appropriate situation,” she said.

And Eads should know. She’s president of Tengo Pantalones, a newly registered University student group dedicated to discussing situations in which pants are appropriate.

Eads and two friends in Comstock Hall came up with the idea over dinner earlier this month. The trio made it official when they paid the $15 registration fee at the Student Activities Office, using quarters that were originally meant to pay for club secretary Charles Swan’s laundry.

“I thought it was funny and kind of different,” said Sara Ferguson, the Student Activities Office employee who received the quarters.

Tengo Pantalones – Spanish for “I have pants” – now has 40 members, and the three founders said they have no idea what to do with them.

They’ve talked of holding a large forum with all its members to discuss pants, in addition to a clothing drive for pants, which would not accept capris, shorts or skirts.

“We deal with pure pants only,” Swan said.

The group said society does not often address pants-related issues.

“At Taco Bell, they have a sign that says ‘No shirt, no shoes, no service,’ but it doesn’t say anything about pants,” Eads said.

One thing the founders said they want to do is keep the club apolitical.

“Pants have nothing to do with abortion, religion or racism,” Eads said.

Nor do they want to be preachy.

“They need to want help themselves before we can do anything,” said treasurer Kelly Frush, referring to the man wearing shorts in the snow.

They do, however, dream of a pants-related infomercial that could some day air during a U.S. president’s State of the Union address.

“We’re really, really random when we talk about things and sometimes that gets translated into reality,” Swan said.