Administrators at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania are receiving criticism over a policy that requires obese students to take a class to lower their body mass indices before graduating, according to The Lincolnian.
In 2006, the school created “Fitness for Life,” a program that requires students with a BMI of over 30 — which is considered obese — to take a one credit gym class before graduation, according to Examiner.com.
With 24 students who still must take the course in order to graduate this spring, many students have voiced opposition to the university’s involvement in what they see as a personal issue, according to The Lincolnian. University officials say they “are actively working to increase the health of their students.”
Northeastern University cuts football team
After five consecutive losing football seasons for Northeastern University, University officials have announced that the 74-year-old program will be terminated, The Huntington News reported.
A council of senior administrators, trustees, faculty, alumni, donors and students made the decision, which has been under consideration since 2007.
Northeastern Athletic Director Peter Roby wrote in an open letter in The Huntington News that the university would need to spend millions of dollars to keep the football program running.
Football players at the school are protesting the move. In a Huntington News article, Yaroslav Mukh, a sophomore offensive lineman, asks “why promise the kids that are coming in here as freshmen that they were going to definitely play out their careers here?”
Southern California Community Colleges sued for involving prayer in ceremonies
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is suing two South Orange County community colleges on behalf of students, professors and graduates for leading prayers during official ceremonies.
According to the lawsuit, one of the campuses, Saddleback College, is accused of, among other incidents, showing a video in a faculty training session that endorses religion. The video ends with the quote “only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ and the American G.I. One died for your soul, the other died for your freedom”, according to The Orange County Register News.
Saddleback College professor Karla Westphal sparked the lawsuit by contacting Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union in 2004 after finding the college’s use of prayer offensive.