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Too Fat to Graduate
Lincoln University is refusing to give diplomas to two dozen obese students who ditched a health class. Elizabeth Gates on why the black community is ignoring a more critical issue.
Lincoln University, the nation’s first historically black college in Oxford, Pennsylvania, has decided that a handful of students won’t be getting their diplomas this spring. It wasn’t because they were underachieving kids caught in a “senior slump,” had pending library charges, or even disciplinary issues. This group of over two dozen African American students will not get to walk across the stage and shake hands in front of their proud parents because they’re fat.
Organic farmers’ markets don’t often pop up on breezy Sunday mornings between project buildings clustered in American inner cities.
In 2006, the university implemented a mandatory semester-long program entitled “Fitness for Life,” which aimed to educate the portion of their student population with a body mass index of 30 or higher on physical fitness, nutrition, and the health risks associated with obesity, and how to maintain (or obtain) a healthy physique. While this sounds like a promising initiative that certainly caters to the demographic that needs it most—young black Americans—two dozen of the 92 hopeful graduates who registered as freshman with a BMI of 30 or higher (qualifying them as obese) decided not to enroll in the course. Professors and students are now divided over what role the university should play in students’ nutritional education and whether being overweight should deny anyone a diploma.
Simply put, these students should graduate. They should walk the line, toss their mortar boards, and make their mamas proud. But the greater issue that needs to be explored is why these capable students, all of whom met the multitude of other graduation requirements, would opt out of completing a short course that caters to their own health and well-being. Lincoln University is wrong to hold them back from graduating, but the students are also at fault for refusing to educate themselves, especially when faced with statistics that predict a dire future.
According to a recent study conducted at Washington University in St. Louis, 90 percent of black children will be in a household that uses food stamps at least once by the time they turn 20. That number is certainly staggering, but the reality is that beyond Whole Foods, which does accept EBT cards (the food stamp debit card), most African American families burdened by this plight simply do not know their options. In order to get more food for their dollar, they would rather stock up at Costco, the country’s “largest warehouse-club chain,” which will soon start accepting food stamps. Quantity over quality is a difficult decision for any parent, but when multiple mouths need three meals a day, paying $2.00 for an organic, locally-grown potato is never the most practical option.
The black community has a long and unbalanced history of nutrition-related illness when compared to the white community, ranging from high blood pressure (hypertension accounts for 20 percent of African American deaths, twice that of the white community) to diabetes (12.5 percent of African Americans over 18 years old will be diagnosed with diabetes, versus only 1.8 percent of non-Hispanic whites). Without an early foundation of nutritional education, the idea of trading in a buttermilk biscuit for an egg-white omelet is daunting, to say the least.
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connie47
Is the course a requirement for graduation? The article calls it "mandatory," which seems to imply it's a requirement, but is an odd word to use here.
It can't be about what these kids weigh. If the course is a requirement for graduation and they didn't take it, they don't graduate. If the course is not a requirement, they should graduate.
roadhunter
You've summed up the entire argument nicely, which is something Elizabeth should have done herself in the story. Why is it that professional journalists are slacking off so much lately?
connie47
She needed to fill a page, or so she thought. She could have put the whole thing in a paragraph, but nobody would have paid her for it. It's junk journalism.
sophia5
First of all nobody should be denied graduation
because of weight.
However,
Injecting the whole " Organic " angle is weak.
The argument about access and the high cost
of " organic " as a cause and effect for obesity
seems a bit disingenuous.
Most Americans do not live on a steady diet
of organics, although it would be nice.
Many of us don't have a Whole Foods
or a Farmers Market.
A bag of vegetables can be found in most
any city in the country, and
sorry for the simplistic antidote,
but a bag of vegetables at the grocery
store costs less than a bag of Fried Potatoes.
troublemonkey
This may be an issue of discrimination. Did *everyone* with *any* health problem related to nutrition have to take this class? And isn't one within their rights to *choose* to be fat without unwanted bureaucratic interference?
To suggest this is an educational issue is a farce. WHO does NOT KNOW that you GET FAT eating FOODS (or in QUANTITIES) that MAKE YOU FAT?
This is nothing more than browbeating those we consider not to believe the same way we do... i.e., that a long life of asceticism is to be preferred over a shorter, more gustatorily enjoyable one. NOT THE COLLEGE'S BUSINESS.
dcbooknurse
THe class should be mandatory for all students, not just the overweight ones. Many people start poor eating habits as teens. They may be staying skinny by living on Red Bull. They may be eating terrible diets but their metabolism can handle it for now. When they get older and their metabolism slows or they get jobs and become less active, the pounds start to pile on. The classes should be mandatory for everyone or not be mandatory at all.
rubyslipper
I agree with you completely! Just because someone doesn't look obese doesn't mean that they are any healthier than an overweight person. There are many problems with Lincoln University's policy of forcing the fat students to take this class in order to graduate, one reason being that BMI is now known to be a crappy indicator of someone's overall health.
Ms. Gates makes some excellent points in this article that apply to the broader community, not just to the fat students.
Genni2002
Of course and well put!
djanimaequeen
dc you are right. I am well under weight but I still have high cholesterol. Plus I am at risk for high blood pressure and diabetes (my father died from it and he was not at all fat). Skinny does not equal healthy. People should not be working out so they can fit into a certain dress size but because it's good for their heart and overall health. All students should be required to take the course especially since college kids are prone to unhealthy eating no matter what size they are.
ApresSki
If the class is *mandatory*, shouldn't the 2nd absence come into question when the roster is turned in? With a 2nd absence, students should be rounded up and told with mandatory classes, they'll need to be in that class in order to graduate instead of being told at the end of the year days before graduation.
I fault Management again for not making it totally clear to these students, that they MUST be in their *mandatory* classes in order to graduate. The school should have made it their business to get it through their thick skulls this class was a necessary evil. Did I say thick???
Monk66
as a college students myself, it is nobody's responsability but your own to know what you have to do to graduate. The school gives General Ed req, Minor Req, and Major req. If a student cant figure out how to plan their classes and what classes they need to take to graduate, they don't really deserve a bachelor's degree. Sorry but college is for preparing students to be independent and successful in life, not hold their hand all the way through until they get into the real world.
Bottom Line:
Its your own fault if you don't know what it takes to get the job done.
FatFreddy
That's what they have academic advisers for. Any good school will automatically assign all Freshmen an adviser. It is the student's responsibility to meet with his/her adviser. Exactly what school do you attend?
brownjackson
I'm sorry, what type of college did you attend? "Mandatory" usually denotes you have to take the class, not that you are enrolled in the class. It's up to you to enroll in it.
alymarie
My university required that all students enroll in a health class every semester. As part of the health class we were required to get a BMI assessment (the result of which was part of our grade), complete a 3 mile field test (again the result was part of our grade) and we also had to complete aerobic points. We also had to successfully past a swimming test. If you didn't pass the swim test, you did not graduate. Period. The requirements of Lincoln University doesn't seem that bad.
alymarie
I'm sorry "The requirements of Lincoln University DON'T seem that bad." Please excuse the gramatical mistake.
DakLak
Discrimination is discrimination and this university activity should be met with appropriate charges against management.
citivas
On what basis? Many schools have physical fitness requirements that are required courses. Aren't those discriminating against wimpy kids? Most schools have foreign language requirements. Yet it is established that some people are wired such as to not be adapt at learning secondary languages. Are they being discriminated against?
Most schools have tests, including the national AP system, that allow some students to by-pass required courses when they have already demonstrated proficiency. It seems like that's exactly what is happening with the BMI test. If a student has a BMI under 30, they have demonstrated basic (very basic) health proficiency and can skip the requirement. If they have a BMI over 30, they didn't pass the assessment and need to take the class. Perfect fair.
Your response implies that all overweight people are a "special" class entitled to special legal protection. I don't agree they should be entitled to this and legally there is no federal protection class for overweight people, the way there is for gender, age or ethnicity. All of those classes are something beyond the person's control. Obesity - with proper education and discipline - is not, which sounds like the point of the course. Or are you one of those people who believe that the sudden surge in obesity is entirely beyond the control of those suffering from it, that it is all genetic? There is no evidence of that and statistically it makes no sense - it would imply that either there was a mass genetic mutation throughout the U.S. in a single generation that disproportionately affected black, Hispanic and poor kids or that the very small percentage of the population with a family history of obesity suddenly had dramatically more kids than everyone else.
Obesity has quickly become one of our country's leading health problems resulting from bad behavior, as smoking has been for decades. And the two have many things in common. They both predominately result from behavior rather than genetics, they both are highly impacted by family and parent behavior, and they both become forms of addiction that require substantial work to correct once afflicted. They both are propagated by private industry spending billions to make and market products they know are entirely unhealthy for people. And they both cost our health care system at least hundreds-of-billions a year and kill millions of people.
For us to try and categorize obesity as a disability or special class would be a huge mistake. We need to think of it like it is, like smoking. It's not beyond people's control (in a vast majority of cases). And it is deeply rooted in bad behavior patterns. But it is like a disease or addiction and requires aggressive assistance to overcome. In fact, within a generation the cost and impact on our health system from obesity-related health problems will likely exceed the damage attributed to smoking. Combating obesity should be one of our nation's highest priorities - and would do more than all the ideas being debated in Congress now. Reducing it to a disability would undermine all of that. It would be akin to saying that smokers should be protected to smoke in any environment - on a crowded plane, in your office, etc. - because they are disabled.
Jessica150
Citivas--you said "Or are you one of those people who believe that the sudden surge in obesity is entirely beyond the control of those suffering from it, that it is all genetic? There is no evidence of that and statistically it makes no sense - it would imply that either there was a mass genetic mutation throughout the U.S. or..."
SO WRONG! AND HERE'S WHY: The massive increase in obesity could also imply that there was a sea change in the food supply that is affecting a large percentage of the population, with a disproportionate impact on the poor. Until the advent of processed foods, it was extremely rare to find people who were 100 pounds overweight. Now that the government is subsidizing corn and soy, and thereby making processed foods an extremely cheap way to get calories, people's weight is shooting up, and more so among the poor. Processed food is the underlying cause of the obesity epidemic--it is engineered by "food scientists" to be extremely palatable and (believe it or not) to increase the amount that you eat. All those corn calories have to go somewhere.
The answer is for the government to stop subsidizing corn and soy and to start subsidizing fresh fruits and vegetables, in their whole and intact state. Once those things become the least expensive way to eat, you'll see a big shift in obesity stats.
citivas
Jessica150, I agree with you and nothing you wrote contradicts my points. The massive increase is not due to genetics and is due to environmental and behavior issues. Like you, I also pointed out that it is disproportionately affecting the poor, who mostly rely on cheap, heavily processed foods. That doesn't make it a genetic issue. It is still about education and discipline. Healthy diets can be achieved for comparable costs as unhealthy ones, just not as conveniently. (Just as smoking is disproportionately popular among the people who can least afford it.) Families establish undisciplined diets early and pass them onto their kids. The medium fries and McDonalds are bigger than the large when I was a kid. Restaurants didn't use to encourage massive soda consumption with free refills. Etc, etc. This is a societal-wide issue with major implications for all of us as the massive toll of this obesity hits our health system.
That's exactly why the course and was such a good idea.
Monk66
EXERCISE
if you're fat..
EXERCISE
FatFreddy
Whoa. I think your point is way off. Yes, students can "test out" of certain classes, but it's ridiculous to say a BMI test is the equivalent of an exam. In your scenario, are the students that pass the BMI test awarded the credits of the Health class? I don't think they are here.
troublemonkey
You don't get to tell people to be skinny because you prefer them that way. That's fascism. (And, no, I'm not fat.)
citivas
troublemonkey, who said anything about them requiring the people to be thin? They are requiring an educational course. They can choose to eat well or not, to be fat or thin. They just have to take the class. And the last time I checked, schools could do that. That's kind of the point.
AFC123
At 197 pounds I would be overweight, but at 198 I would be obese. Is it really fair to say that if I lost (or gained) a pound that my knowledge of nutrition, and therefore my need to take this course, would change? If obese students could test out of the course, ie actually have an opportunity to display the knowledge that is required to pass the health class, then it wouldn't be discriminatory. At current it is based on solely weight, which is discrimination plain and simple.
As someone who needs to eat a starvation level of calories to maintain a barely healthy weight (with an active lifestyle!) with a fraternal twin sister who can eat more than twice that and still maintain a weight 30 lbs less than me, I'm in the best position to tell you that knowledge doesn't always equal results. In terms of fitness and nutrition, and it's application, I'm head and shoulders above my sister, but she appears to the uneducated as the healthier of the two of us.
Essentially what this university is saying is that I need more education and my sister doesn't, despite the fact I could likely teach the course and she would actually learn something. (I love my sister, but a slurpee and a bag of chips is not dinner!)
Genetics suck (for some of us anyway)
BTHKNNDY
Where is The New Shcoool University? Is that near The New School University?
jbo206
If this was a mandatory course on Diversity and a set of white students had refused (not neglected. this was a deliberate stance by this particular group of obese students) would Gates et al be defending their right to graduate? A resounding No.
Students who expect to graduate from college should understand the definition of mandatory. They wanted to test the will of the administration and the administration is standing firm for the good of the students. Sometimes a communities worst enemy is itself.
sonofrobinX
thats a loose and uneducated connection. diversity and obeseity are not even on the same playing field.
if you had a genetic disposition to be obese you probably would be ashamed at your self and your school for shining a light on your cankles and neverending belly fat even if it was for the good of your own health. diversity is for the good of all people. or atleast somebody thought it was once. the school should not have made it mandatory nor should any university make a class on diversity mandatory
imagine how white people feel in a class on slave narratives. a bit uncomfortable right?
roadhunter
They are on the exact same playing field if each one is a mandatory class. You might want to look up the definition of "mandatory".
If you have a genetic predisposition to be obese, you should eat less and exercise more than someone who does not.
Some are genetically predisposed to be less intelligent than others. How do they graduate? They study harder than the more intelligent kids have to.
Your last sentence is racist, and insulting.
Monk66
The class doesn't tell you you are fat. It doesn't have fat people sit on one side of the room and in-shape people sit on the other.
The class TEACHES what it takes to lead healthy lifestyles.
It was a mandatory class to take, and by "two dozen of the 92 hopeful graduates who registered as freshman with a BMI of 30 or higher (qualifying them as obese) decided not to enroll in the course," they don't deserve the diploma.
They knew what it took to graduate, and they didn't get it done. That is nobody's fault but their own.
mdreader
Basic Physical Fitness 101 is mandatory at my university-- an urban university.
- Many of our students work either part or full time. They can't opt out.
- Our atheletes can't opt out (there were two second string basketball players in my 101 class!)
- The class required class work and gym work that was mandatory.
- Everyone had to run 10 miles and/or swim 10 miles-- you pick.
- Handicapped students got special accomodations.
- If health problems were discovered or injuries occured, you could be seen by medical professionals on campus or you could see your own doctor. Since many students did not have insurance or their own doctor, the University provided medical staff.
pulmanomancer
The entertaining thing about this is that it's -easier- to swim 10 miles if you're obese: you float! I've usually been obese, and have a much easier time doing long-distance swims (not sure if I've done 10 miles, but I've done 5 easily) than my thinner friends.
The big thing here is that the class wasn't mandatory for all students; it was mandatory for those with a BMI over 30. This was probably a bad idea: folks who are fat at 20 have strong enough predisposition that the class won't do any good. The folks that are thin at 20 will, actuarily speaking, likely be fat at 40, and would actually benefit from the class...
troublemonkey
This is discrimination pure and simple. Some fascist decides you need to be able to run ten miles... that's almost like imposing your RELIGIOUS convictions on someone. Health/fitness has become an article of nearly-religious fervor for many folks who don't seem to realize, my physical state is my OWN BUSINESS.
Cashmoney
Look, skipping out on a mandatory course, no matter the subject, means you don't graduate. That's what mandatory means.
I'm not sure I understand your post. If you're predisposed to obesity, then a mandatory course on how best to avoid it sounds like a good idea. As for diversity course, everyone knows they're a waste of time.
As for white people being uncomfortable in a course on slave narratives -- not likely. Slavery ended a century and a half ago. Nobody alive today has any connection to slavery. It's history.
roadhunter
Not to mention the fact that whites aren't the only ones who had slaves. Plenty of blacks did as well (not in America, of course) but in many other parts of the world.
dooreen
You can be exempted from mandatory courses, if the university has a policy which allows for exceptions and the professor who is teaching the class gives you permission, then you take the risk of passing the harder course without prerequisite.
dooreen
Instead of assuming these students are stupid, maybe a person could consider how much this course costs, and possibly for the same reason they are heavier than is healthy, they can't afford the course.
You always go back to the equation of capital, one person's asset is another person's liability.
Cashmoney
The "equation of capital" -- huh?
"One person's asset is another person's liability" -- OK, in debtor-creditor relations that's true. So?
What are you talking about? What does your post have to do with an obesity class?
jbo206
By this logic any course a student diem's un-necessary could be skipped...
dooreen
jbo206 knows the truth :) and explained it well to Cashmoney. A bow to you Jbo. :))
chicago123
So they could afford every other course required for graduation besides this one?
olive007
The fixation on organic foods is not helpful. "Since I can't afford organic groceries, I'll just stop at McDonald's." Is McDonald's organic? No, so why do the groceries have to be organic? Whatever may taint the non-organic is far less harmful than the fat, salt and sugar in the junk food. It is significantly cheaper to cook meals from scratch than it is to buy cheap fast food; it's just a lot more work.
citivas
Exactly. I couldn't agree more. There is no evidence that organic food is more healthy per se, just that the types of foods you can buy organically are better, period. Go ahead and buy the cheaper non-organic fruits and vegetables and make healthy dishes with appropriate portions and you'll do just fine. The problem is not the cost of "healthy" food, which doesn't have to be organic, but the convenience and accessibility of unhealthy foods and portions.
dooreen
cereal, like vector, or muslix and milk, as long as these students aren't homeless, then they have a hard time, preparing things, and keeping food safe. There has to be more to this story than we are being told. Someone must be making money on this. I am guessing of course. The motion of capital to any organization is like a cyclist pedaling on a biicycle, no movement, bike/economy crashes.
olive007
These students didn't learn to eat healthily while growing up. I cooked good food and fed my kids properly, now that's what they want to eat (they're all thin). If fresh food isn't available, there are lots of quick options or buy loaf of wheat bread and make peanut butter sandwiches - really cheap, healthy and tasty - or as my mother used to say, "Have an apple."
bobj72
Ms.Gates; I am sorry, but I must respectfully disagree with the survey data you offered from Washington Univ. You offered; >>> ...."According to a recent study conducted at Washington University in St. Louis, 90 percent of black children will be in a household that uses food stamps at least once by the time they turn 20."
pulmanomancer
Being Jewish was extremely unhealthy in the 30's and 40's. And those helpful Nazis gave lots of informational courses informing everyone of the fact!
Correlation isn't causation - and the correlation between obesity and poor health isn't even that strong, until you hit a BMI of 40. The correlation between inactivity and poor health - regardles of weight - is much, much stronger. This is a matter of political fashion.
bobj72
Ms. Gates,
The article you wrote referenced a Washington Univ. Survey that cited this statistic; "90% of Black children will have lived in a household that used Food Stamps by the time they are 20."
This statistic is either a typographical error or a transposition error. The statistical statement is equivalent to saying; The Black population of the U.S. is 13% (45.5MM people.) And 90% of the Black population (41MM) Have, or will have lived in a household that used or will have used Food Stamps by the time they are 20.
White people comprise approximately 40% of the U.S. Population, AND they are the majority of the Recipients on Welfare. And I'm sure you have to be registered on Welfare to recieve Food Stamps.
I am a Black man who has lived for 68 years and NOT KNOWN ANYONE 20 years of age or younger, who fits the statistic ("was in a Food Stamp using household.") I am a university educated, middle class person AND I can tell you unequivocably; THERE IS NO WAY THAT 90% of the young people (20 and younger) Fit the Profile-Statistic you noted.
You are esentially saying 90% (or some % near that) represents the percentage of Black folks who live in poverty. That's inaccurate and the error MISINFORMS the Uneducated, Miseducated, the ill-informed and it "feeds into" the racist mentality that strongly desires the opportunity TO USE SUCH A STATISTIC... Accurate or NOT!!!
djanimaequeen
Very good point bob. Thank you.
aackc1
I guess based on this survey... there is a good chance Obama used food stamps! Not that there is anything wrong with that!
brownjackson
excellent humor
pulmanomancer
I believe Obama has claimed that his mother collected food stamps while he was a child, so ... yeah.
troublemonkey
I think you mean "unequivocally", college boy.
aackc1
I am not sure where Gates is going with this article... Blaming the school, only fat people attending class
Blaming the students, being ignorant about their health
Blaming a black person's upbringing, not providing a healthy environment to be raised... considering the family is on food stamps
Blaming society, food stamps don't buy organic food
Not really sure, but why are people just not accountable for there actions. You can choose to go to another college or not graduate. You can choose to educate yourself on healthy nutrition. You can work your way out of welfare and off food stamps.
That's too easy, let's blame the government, and have them give me some handouts!!!
jmusic
Once again, you all are correct to a point. However, the question should be - Does this punishment fit the crime? I noted in one of the comments, someone spoke of issues and problems needing aggressive assistance. Well, I do know this, all of us fall short of something and usually something major in life. This aggressive assistance, unfortunately always ends up being quite abusive. Dignity and patience is always the way to assist. Beating up on someone or pointing out a flaw, especially a flaw in which this society makes it quite difficult to get away from, never works. Eating healthy is something you should do, I agree, but, once again, most of us aren't eating healthy, we just don't have the visual attached to it because of our specific genetics.
So, is it about health or the visual. If it is the visual, then, yes, it now becomes discrimination. I find this tactic to be very abusive, especially towards young people.
And...By the way, Is Lincoln U. serving all healthy products in their cafeteria? Let's see now, all products low fat, vegetarian, etc., healthy desserts? Are they taking the lead in this? My last visit was about (3) years ago. It didn't seem to be that way then. I wonder if it has changed.
Thank you.
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