PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania university's requirement that overweight undergraduates take a fitness course to receive their degrees has raised the hackles of students and the eyebrows of health and legal experts.Officials at historically black Lincoln University said Friday that the school is simply concerned about high rates of obesity and diabetes, especially in the African-American community.
They need to be at a certain weight to graduate. Interesting. Now, if they signed on to the college knowing this, then shame on them. If it's something that the college put into place after they had already started classes, then not so much. The college isn't requiring the kids to lose weight or lower their BMI, just to take a gym class.
While I'm uncomfortable with the slippery slope this represents - there's a whole host of unhealthy lifestyle choices they could set their sights on - I think we could expand this to be useful. If they're doing this under the pretense of "Why have a college degree if you're going to drop dead of heart disease at 35?", there's a bunch of other skills college students should have before they graduate.
Maybe they should have to be able to:
- Shoot an IDPA course.
- Field-strip an AR.
- Dress a deer.
- Spot a zombie outbreak
- Change a flat tire.
- Survive a week in the woods.
- Show proficiency in swimming.
- Negotiate a used car sale.
- Show independent thought (okay, that might be too far-fetched).
Or any other number of useful life skills that don't normally get taught in higher education. Heck, just allowing opposing (conservative) viewpoints on campus would go a long way towards showing the college is trying to prepare the kids for real life...
All I know is, I'm damn glad there wasn't a weight requirement for graduation when *I* was in school...
That is all.
11 comments:
Jay,
When I was a student at Georgia Tech, they had a required for graduation class called "Drown-proofing". Yup. It was essentially survival swimming. I never understood the reason for the class until I looked at history. The school started the class in 1940 or 1941 when a large number of students were likely to be heading to the merchant marine service - at a time when German u-boats were sinking merchant vessels with reckless abandon. In that context it made sense. However, when WW2 came to an end and the wholesale slaughter of merchant and naval vessels came to an end, the requirement for the class was never lifted -- at least not until 1986 when the roof of the building where the class was taught collapsed.
Coming back full circle, there is an epidemic of obesity in this country. And by the admission of the university officials, they're not trying to make fitness gurus out of their students. No, rather they're simply trying to educate the whole student, mind and body.
In the end, I too think it is a slippery slope. I'll be listening for more on this story.
Maybe they should just be able to perform the Competent Man list as described by Lazarus Long.
Well, back in the dark ages (I'm 58), 2 yrs of phys ed was required at most colleges.
Brad,
Interesting lesson from a Ramblin' Wreck, eh?
Bob,
That's kinda what I had in mind...
Anon, I'm 20 years your junior and we had the same requirement...
Jay,
Yup, a Rambin' Wreck. And many, many thanks for not confusing GA Tech with UGA (aka the best damned high-school in the state of GA).
- Brad
Personally I don't think you should be able to graduate without learning to shotgun a beer.
Private school = no problem with the requirement.
Swimming is actually a requirement to graduate from Cornell. One of the tricks people who want to double major and take more than 4 years to do it use to not get forced to graduate before they finish their 2nd major/minor/concentration is to not pass the swimming test until they've completed the coursework they want.
The Mrs. Graduated UNC Chapel Hill and had to pass a swim test.
Orono you had to be able to get shitfaced drunk and walk a mile in the snow and not freeze to death.
Maybe it wasn't a requirement, but everybody I graduated with had that skill.
When I was in college in '89 in WV, there was a fitness class that was required. I moved to FL in '91 and found the same thing at the community college level.
I think the fact that it was applied globally kept it from being a problem. Perhaps if Lincoln U. were to just make it a pre-req for graduation regardless of weight, it wouldn't come off quite so invasive.
I started at the University of Illinois Fall of '83. We were required to take one physical education class of our choice. When I was pre-registering my Dad suggested getting the PE requirement out of the way first semester. Looking through the course catalog he found an Advanced Swimming class, said "you're a good swimmer, take this". That's how I wound up taking the class I call the toughest A I ever earned. Boy did I earn it. Warm up for class was 1600m worth of laps.
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