The Undergraduate Senate passed a resolution on Feb. 10 to ban offensive items in University fitness centers in response to a Phi Sigma Kappa shirt worn in Jacobs Fitness Center encouraging sorority girls not to eat.
The shirt read, “Please don’t feed the sorority girls” on the front and “Campus Beautification” on the back, according to second-year Washington College of Law student Kendra Lee’s op-ed published in The Eagle Feb. 7.
The shirts are five years old, and current Phi Sigma Kappa brothers do not own them, Phi Sigma Kappa President Darius Hedayati said in his letter to the editor.
SG’s resolution will ask Jacobs Fitness Center and dorm fitness facilities to ban items that violate University Discrimination and Sexual Harassment policy by creating a hostile or offensive environment, train gym staff to enforce appropriate dress codes and inform students of the rules.
Class of 2015 Sen. Kim Truong, the president of Alpha Chi Omega, wrote the resolution after she read Lee’s op-ed, she said.
“I was disappointed as a woman in Greek life,” Truong said. “I was frustrated with what happened and how it appeared as if nobody in the Jacobs Fitness Center had addressed the issue.”
The resolution recommends a clearer dress code policy to ban offensive items. SG will ask the Fitness Center to post these banned items on the Fitness Center website and bulletin boards in all University fitness centers, according to the resolution. The resolution does not aim to restrict students’ rights, but to create a safer workout space, Truong said.
The Jacobs Fitness Center’s dress code currently prohibits clothing with offensive language or graphics, according to the student registration form. The dress code is also posted in the center’s strength area, according to Director of Recreational Sports and Fitness Jocelyn Hill.
“While I respect the right for students to have freedom of expression, I believe spaces, particularly like the Jacobs Fitness Center, should be a safe and respectful place where people should be able to exercise free from judgment and free from offense,” Truong said.
kschneck@theeagleonline.com
