After a year and a half of exercising under the athletics department, students can now wear tank tops in the fitness center.

ALIGNING WITH STUDENT HANDBOOK

Previously, the fitness center resided under auxiliary services and included the dress code rule of no tank tops since the center’s opening in 2001. Students can now enjoy the ease of transitioning between classes and working out by having the same dress code as the student handbook, according to assistant director of athletics Nathanael Cook.

“There were a lot of students that came forward and were like, ‘Hey, we’d like to be able to change this, it seems like the rule is a little outdated.’ So we took a look at it and at the end of the day we basically decided to align our policy with the student handbook,” Cook said.

Cook also shared how the athletics department added a few items to the language of the student handbook, such as wearing closed toed shoes and for students to bring their ID to scan into the fitness center. Although the ban against tank tops was originally in place for modesty reasons, Cook now hopes students will feel more invited into the space.

STUDENTS REACT TO CHANGE

As a student fitness center employee for the past few years, senior elementary education major Emily Segel has seen people’s past frustration with the rule and current excitement with the change. She also shared how determining the tank top’s appropriateness has become a new challenge.

“It’s a little difficult because sometimes some of the tank tops are, I don’t know, not necessarily appropriate tank tops, so it’s hard to like draw the line between what’s appropriate and not, but I think for the most part everyone’s doing a really good job of wearing modest tank tops and… just adapting really well,” Segel said.

Students working out enjoy the option of wearing tank tops, even if their personal preference remains not wearing one. Freshman political science major Shenna McLaughlin previously noticed how students attended other gyms because of the old rule.

“I think it’s a positive thing because a lot of people hated the rule of not being able to wear tank tops, unfortunately. Tank tops, they allow for a lot of functionality and ability to work out, it sometimes increases it,” McLaughlin said. “I know a lot of people who were starting to switch to different fitness centers or buy gym memberships strictly because of the tank top rule here.”