Too Fat to Graduate?

College seniors are asking themselves many questions as their final graduation looms: are all my classes scheduled? Will I have enough credits? Is all the paperwork done? Has my adviser approved my graduation yet?

This year, however, Lincoln University seniors have another question to ask themselves. Am I thin enough to graduate?

At Lincoln, students must have their body mass index (BMI) tested, and if it falls over 30, which is considered obese, they are required to take a fitness class or they will not be allowed to graduate.  Next spring’s graduating class will be the first to be affected by this policy. As the student’s spring semester approaches, their last chance to take the class, the policy is receiving media attention and scrutiny. Students and outsiders alike have criticized and protested the policy.

Tiana Lawson, 21, wrote a letter to the editor at Lincoln’s student newspaper, The Lincolnian, saying that it is unfair to single out students with a certain BMI. “I’m never going to be comfortable with this class, but I think I would be more understanding if this was a requirement for everyone,” she wrote. “While I don’t think it was the university’s intention to make us feel excluded, that is precisely what they have done.”

Lawson makes a good point. Why do only “fat” people have to be healthy? I absolutely agree that universities should be promoting healthy living and fitness. Obesity is a problem in this country, and encouraging young people to stay active and healthy is a positive thing. However, singling out people of a certain weight who came to a university to get an education and not a fitness plan is unfair and sends the wrong message. This doesn’t say “we want our students to be healthy,” it says “we want our fat students to be skinnier.”

James DeBoy, chairman of the school’s Department of Health and Physical Education, told CNN that the policy is similar to requiring math or communications courses, and the university feels a responsibility to teach overweight students that their condition is unhealthy. “We, as educators, must tell students when we believe, in our heart of hearts, when certain factors, certain behaviors, attitudes, whatever, are going to hinder that student from achieving and maximizing their life goals,” he said. He also said that the resources are not available to require all students to take the class.

Obesity can cause diabetes, stroke, heart problems, depression, osteoarthritis and other complications. DeBoy said that the policy was instated simply to help fight obesity, and was met with little resistance when it was instated in 2006. 620 students at Lincoln have already tested out or taken the course, with 80 who still need to get their BMI tested.

Fitness requirements are very common in lower level schools. It’s unfortunate that as time goes on and people grow older, they are much less interested in fitness and working out. I know as an elementary school student, gym class was my favorite part of the week, while in middle school I reluctantly trudged to my once a week gym class, and opted out of it completely in high school. Since I’ve graduated, my high school now requires students to take gym classes to graduate. Now in college, I try to take advantage of my school’s kinesiology classes and bike or walk to class, which constitutes as quite the workout on Michigan State University’s expansive campus.

Eating well and exercising can make getting through college much easier, and since going away to college is probably the first time most students are responsible for themselves, they sometimes lose the good habits their parents or previous schools may have instilled in them. Universities  should absolutely include knowledge of fitness as a skill they want their students to have, but they should either not require these classes or require them for all students. Just because a student might not be obese doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from a lesson in fitness.

To determine what your BMI and learn more about maintaining a healthy weight, visit the National Heart Lung and Blood Association’s BMI calculator, and let us know how you feel about Lincoln’s policy in the comments below.