T-shirts to the gym?

Remember in middle school when your 60-year-old principal would yell at you if, God forbid, your bra strap was showing? If those administrators had their way, we would’ve all been wearing floor-length plaid skirts and turtlenecks to play gym class flag-football in 90-degree weather. Well, it shames me to report that the struggle of complying with school attire regulations is not yet over, even in college.

As of the 2016 academic year, “patrons” — yes, us paying customers of the Student Recreation Center (SRC) — are required by some invisible law to wear sleeved shirts. The gym was even so kind as to define this for us on their website: “Our definition of a t-shirt or cap sleeved shirt does not include cut off sleeves, tank top, crop- top shirt, or a sports bra.”

Their reasoning?

MRSA. Good old MRSA.

Here’s the problem with that: if, indeed, MRSA and ringworm have been a growing problem on campus, it certainly hasn’t been communicated to students or faculty. As far as I know, I’ve never heard the university mention “MRSA, Ringworm, and other contagions” in relation to the gym until they wanted to implement a clothing policy. If it’s a legitimate concern, fine — show me the research and statistics regarding West Chester’s campus and recreational facilities.

I myself did some research on how to best protect yourself against MRSA and other infections at the gym. Guess what I found? Next to nothing about the kinds of clothes you wear!

Here’s what I did find, though: If you are concerned about the spread of disease, wash your hands. Don’t place your hands too close to the area where you drink out of on your water bottle, and keep your hands away from your face in general. Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants if you’re very concerned, as short-sleeves won’t actually cover much of anything. Try to touch surfaces as little as possible and cover open wounds. Also, always remember to wipe down your machine after using it!

What I found is that as long as you have good personal hygiene, you’re basically golden. As for the shirts — I don’t know what to tell you.

The question I am posing is this: What good does three inches of fabric on our upper arm do to fight MRSA and Ringworm, and what caused the sudden need to fight it as of fall 2016? Beyond that, if contagions are their true concern, why didn’t they ban shorts? My legs certainly come into contact with machines at the gym more than my upper arms do. Furthermore, what about our hands? They touch everything.

This issue may seem small, but people’s underlying suspicions about it are the bigger concern: Is this new policy actually just about modesty? If so, why is the university hiding behind the thin veil of Ringworm?

My own experience with the new policy hasn’t exactly been very positive thus far. Upon trying to attend a piyo class with my friend (whatever “piyo” is), she was denied entrance — even though her clothes were in accordance with the gym’s policies as stated on WCU’s website. The man at the front desk’s reasoning for turning her away was that “altered shirts” are not allowed. I remember these words quite well because I was so perplexed as to why she wasn’t allowed into a gym she pays to attend — especially since she was dressed in accordance with their policies.

What upset us both was that she was wearing long pants and a short-sleeved shirt — just as is now required. However, she had cut the neckline to make it a looser collar and had cut the bottom of the shirt to shorten it and give it a different look. Bear in mind it neither had “cut off sleeves,” nor was a “tank top, crop-top shirt, or a sports bra.” It was rejected for being “altered,” but what the hell does that even mean?

She was showing no skin that has yet to be banned by the SRC. If I hadn’t gone in there with a bad taste in my mouth, I certainly left with one. If the true concern is sanitation and the spread of disease, there was no reason to not let her into the gym; absolutely nothing was wrong with her outfit in terms of hygiene.

Let me interject, briefly, on the gym’s behalf: She was not outright asked to leave, as the man did offer her one of their shirts to change into. I can’t be the only one to see the irony here. The gym is a dirty place where I can get Ringworm, but I should put on their clothes to modestly cover up instead of comfortably staying in clothes that I’ve chosen and know are clean?

Not only was this an upsetting experience for her, but quite despicably, it legitimately made her question the way she chooses to dress and present herself. She feels the same way many students with whom I have spoken do – that this new policy is a badly hidden attempt to implement a dress code aimed at restraining what people can and cannot wear to the gym. Knowing this, she was understandably upset and wondered if other people — beyond the man behind the front desk at the gym — thought she dressed too provocatively. He had her questioning the way she dresses.

Whatever the true reason behind the implementation of this new policy is, it’s not sitting well with the vast majority of the student body.

In fact, a petition has been created online to try and counteract these new gym policies. As of writing this article, it has 1,090 signatures out of the 3,000 it is asking for, so if you are also unhappy with the new policies of the gym, go to this link to sign it: http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/bring-back-the-tank-tops.

If this policy is going to be in place, I believe we the students should have a choice in whether or not to pay for this Recreation Center. Personally, I would rather spend that money on a real gym without a dress code.