College's too-fat-to-graduate rule under fire

Victoria Atencio
Blog #8

Cnn.com reports on an issue facing students at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania that deals with graduation requirements. The school has implemented a new rule that states students must pass a BMI (body mass index) test in order to place out of a fitness test at the university. Students who have a BMI of 30 or above are categorized as obese and are required to take a fitness course that meets three hours per week. Those who fall into this category but do not complete the course cannot graduate. BMI as well as measure of muscle mass and waist circumference are also measured to depict accurate readings.
This form of social control is taken to such a personal level that it becomes a form of control that physically controls your future. I find it hard to believe that a university has this type of control over their students because this class has no relation to the desired degrees students work hard to achieve and yet they are held accountable for this course. I find it hard to agree with a policy that discriminates a select group of students whom society, in this case the university, has chosen to label as obese. Passing judgment on students who fall within a certain numbered category is only the beginning of control the university is beginning to exploit. If today students who are considered to be obese are refused their earned diploma, who is to say in the future what discriminating factors will be implemented by collegiate officials. It is as if a cage has been built up by the school and is used to control who is allowed in and to control how a person is supposed to look when they walk out. Of course there are two sides to every story and although I do agree with the university that implementing a fitness class will benefit the health and well being of the students, I do not agree with the fact that students are discriminated in front of the student body and are denied their rights to receive their earned diploma.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/30/lincoln.fitness.overweight/index.html