The Koury Dress Codes Aren't Working Out
A message to the Koury Gym staff and community:
I write this with all of my respect and admiration for the gym which many Elon students love. As an avid goer of the Koury gym, I respectfully write this letter in order to explain the defeat and humiliation that students have felt over the years. We are not writing this with any ill will, only in an attempt to advocate for change and allow you to hear the thoughts and beliefs of an Elon student. Thank you for your consideration.
The Koury gym’s policies changed drastically post-COVID times. While adapting to the situation and the overload of germs, the gym changed their dress code protocol in order to maintain health and safety guidelines. About a year has passed, and although COVID is known to not pass through materials, the dress code is the same.
The dress code at the gym entails that women do not show any part of their stomach and that men do not wear shirts that show their nipples. There have been reports of women coming under scrutiny for wearing tank tops that show their shoulder blades. The clothes in question are all fairly common gym attire.
Workers have advocated that this reason originally was “COVID reasons” and now “a health hazard.” A health hazard to show your stomach.
A dress code may seem like a simple rule to follow; however, the Koury gym has unrealistic guidelines for both genders and not only has these guidelines but enforces them strictly. Multiple men and women students have been approached by the gym faculty and not only told they are breaking the dress code but have been threatened to be kicked out, asked to put on a different shirt, given a gym shirt to put on, or physically kicked out of the gym.
This is not only degrading and humiliating for students, but truly crosses a line and makes students feel sexualized, uncomfortable and discriminated against for their gender. One first year woman was forced to put on a gym shirt while she worked out due to the fact that her stomach was showing, and another senior student was kicked out of the gym for wearing a sports bra.
Not only is the enforcement of this code a potentially harmful overstep, the reasoning behind it has holes, as well. If such “health hazards” are present and so dangerous, then all gyms across the country would have dress codes. Why does it matter if I see the guy's nipples next to me? Or If someone sees my stomach? Who am I truly hurting and who am I hazarding? And why would seeing somebody's body be a hazard?
An anonymous first year student attended the gym with a sports bra and leggings on and was forced to put on another shirt provided to her by the Elon gym. She was not only embarrassed and uncomfortable, but felt truly degraded, she says. “The staff explained it was a health hazard… but to who?”
“I could kick you out right now, but I won’t,” was the first thing I heard while at the Koury gym for the first time this semester. Showing two inches of my stomach was not only a “health hazard” but something that would cause me to be removed from Elon’s gym. And not only have I gone through this, I have personally watched several gym employees go up to students and not only tell them they cannot wear what they are, but publicly embarrass them and tell them they could remove them for the gym if they wanted.
I am not blaming the staff, as this is not their choice and they are only following their job. Although, young women and men are not being treated the Elon way. The correct way. Students should feel comfortable enough to attend their college gym without worrying about how covered their body is and how it affects others. It is not acceptable and change needs to happen.
Cover photo by Sven Mieke on Unsplash