discrimination anyone?

[BlaqueKatt]

story here

any student entering Lincolin University with a BMI over 30 cannot graduate without proving they have lost weight or must take a "fitness for life" class.

Wonder what happens to the student that enter with a BMI of 29 and gain weight?

That's just.....stupid...

[AdminAssistant]

Incredibly, incredibly stupid. Hope one of those students has the ACLU on speed dial.

ETA: I would have no problem with requiring fitness/health classes for all students. It's the fact that select students are being singled out that is problematic.

[Arcade Man D]

Did anyone inform this college that pretty much every physician and dietician currently practicing are of the opinion that BMI is bollocks?

[jackfaire]

I am sorry require everyone take the class and live a healthy lifestyle to graduate or no one otherwise it is discrimination I don't care who agreed to it.

[BlaqueKatt]

Did anyone inform this college that pretty much every physician and dietician currently practicing are of the opinion that BMI is bollocks?

we have a thread on that ....somewhere.....

[fireheart17]

From memory, I remember that Australia Post did something a bit similar. (or were planning to). The idea was that anyone who weighed more than 100kgs would not be allowed to drive the bikes that they use until they lost the weight (they'd be doing walking routes or other non-route work until they did lose the weight). I think they did also have an allowance for those who were on medication or had a condition where weight was an issue.

Discrimination? They weren't losing their jobs, however being singled out because you're way too overweight is a bit troublesome.

In regards to the OP however, that is just wrong. Yes, BMI is bollocks, but still, I thought university was meant to be about LIFE SKILLS, not looking good for the papers.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, were the students aware of this policy when they enrolled?

I mean, of course the policy is a load of horseshit, no argument there. But if they agreed to it upon enrolling in the school, they can hardly cry about it now.

[HYHYBT]

They must have been: otherwise, how would the school even know what their starting BMI was?

It doesn't make it right, but it sure will make it harder to get out of now.

[Slytovhand]

From memory, I remember that Australia Post did something a bit similar. (or were planning to). The idea was that anyone who weighed more than 100kgs would not be allowed to drive the bikes that they use until they lost the weight (they'd be doing walking routes or other non-route work until they did lose the weight). I think they did also have an allowance for those who were on medication or had a condition where weight was an issue.

Discrimination? They weren't losing their jobs, however being singled out because you're way too overweight is a bit troublesome.

Big diff, Fireheart, IIRC. Firstly, AP weren't targetting a BMI, they were targetting a weight - regardless of how that weight was made up..so, if you built like a brick-shithouse, full of muscle, and weighed in over 100Kg, you're out.

Secondly, and most importantly, it was to reduce problems with the light bikes they were riding - so it was a safety issue, not a health one.

[jackfaire]

They must have been: otherwise, how would the school even know what their starting BMI was?

It doesn't make it right, but it sure will make it harder to get out of now.

School could have given everyone a physical not mentioning what it was for during which weight and BMI are recorded. Meanwhile put out the literature that this is the policy but only in say the health services office and don't make it look any different from any other piece of paper that sits around.

In my experience policies change that students are not informed of and finding out requirements for graduation can take some digging until you actually want to graduate. I had a friend who had to talk to three different administrators to find out what his graduation requirements were because he was going for a type of degree that was what he needed for his field but wasn't one people at the school commonly go for.

This is also not a policy the school would draw a lot of attention to because it is such a controversial policy. Thus you have people who first hear about it when they go to graduate and they can respond, "Well you have known for four years it was the policy what is the problem?"

[Nyoibo]

From memory, I remember that Australia Post did something a bit similar. (or were planning to). The idea was that anyone who weighed more than 100kgs would not be allowed to drive the bikes that they use until they lost the weight (they'd be doing walking routes or other non-route work until they did lose the weight). I think they did also have an allowance for those who were on medication or had a condition where weight was an issue.

Discrimination? They weren't losing their jobs, however being singled out because you're way too overweight is a bit troublesome.

Slyt beat me to it, but yeah, it was an OH&S issue, not descrimination.

[XiaoTortuga]

This is amusing me greatly because I almost went to that school and I would not have been able to graduate with a rule like that in place. (Granted, I would have been there MANY years ago.)

There are many universities which place requirements on students that I personally find offensive and therefore I would not attend those schools. These are private schools, of course.

It is up to a student to figure out if a school and its graduation requirements are acceptable to them or not. If you find out the hard way you are too fat to graduate, well, you have learned a very valuable lesson.