So tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we most certainly will be stuffing our faces, but it is how we conduct ourselves as a community the 364 others days for decades on end that is really the issue when it comes to our weight. One HBCU, Lincoln University has attempted to educate its clinically obese students (those with BMI of 30 or greater) by requiring that they enroll in a class called “Fitness for Life” in order to graduate. Sounds like a good idea right? Well, although this rule has been in on the books since 2006, a dozen seniors, who are also fat, failed to take the class and therefore won’t receive their diplomas. I’ve got to agree with Elizabeth Gates, who wrote about this controversial call on “The Daily Beast” that just ain’t right. They didn’t lie, cheat or steal so this is a hard ruling to swallow.
Lincoln University’s heart is in the right place in trying to battle the obesity epidemic but it is difficult to enforce a rule that impacts someone’s legal right to make lifestyle choices. Of course there can be zero tolerance rules for drugs, crimes and other acts but eating too much? I think not. We can’t really control what others put in their mouths even when we know what they’re doing is life-threatening. But graduation requirements should be honored and Lincoln could certainly avoid harsh criticism by simply offering the course this Spring (so the students can take it).
But what if the students don’t want to take it? And that may well be the case because they feel like they’re being forced to talk about something they may not be ready to deal with or feel like they’ve been categorized unfairly. Well they can’t be silent about their feelings, they’d have to take that cause to the administration. And maybe through talking they could come to some sort of a compromise. Perhaps this initiative could be offered to the entire student population because the odds are high that half of them (particular the sisters) will have weight issues at some point in their lives. If these students learn great habits now it could save their lives. And if Lincoln is successful in this initiative perhaps other HBCU’s could pick up the torch and educate their populations too.
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