Photo by Maricel Evangelista
The Student Life and Wellness Center gym modified its dress code to include visual representations of appropriate attire in order to ensure easier dress code enforcement and help students feel they are in a comfortable environment.
Students provided feedback saying the original dress code was difficult to understand, according to DaSheek Akwenye, director of Campus Recreation. As a result, Akwenye said the staff were having a difficult time enforcing the policy.
The dress code policy states, no jeans or revealing tops. Participants must always wear a shirt, athletic shorts or pants and athletic footwear. No boots, flip flops, sandals, open-toed or “croc” type shoes are permitted. Preferred footwear includes closed-toe, rubber-soled athletic footwear, such as tennis shoes.
“There was a lot of miscommunication about the dress code, there was some grey area,” Lindsay Levett, a gym employee said. “Now with the visuals, we can show examples of what the dress code means.”
Posters of what is and is not appropriate are now displayed in the locker rooms and at the entrance to the third floor of the gym. These visuals show that revealing tops means tops that have a low back, wide arms revealing beyond the underarm and tops that expose large areas of the shoulder blades. The dress code now includes details stating that stomachs must be covered and shorts cannot expose buttocks.
“The modified policy is in place to create a comfortable exercise experience for all our gym users,” Akwenye said. “It is also to increase the safety of all participants and to protect our members and staff against the risk of contracting viruses, bacteria, and infectious diseases.”
Changes to the policy have been under consideration for the last six months. The campus recreation department agreed on the final modifications by researching the best practices from other campus recreation institutions across the nation. According to Akwenye, there are around fifty other schools that have similar guidelines and visuals.
“I had no idea there was even a dress code at the gym,” said Sadie Anderson, a junior commercial music student. Anderson has never felt uncomfortable with what other students wear to the gym.
