THE STANDARD M I S S O U R I S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y
VOLUME 111, ISSUE 11 | THE-STANDARD.ORG The Standard/The Standard Sports
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2017
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‘What’s the actual (dress code) policy?’: Students kicked out of the recreation center
Employees lack communication; director says no discrimination present MEGAN BURKE Senior Reporter @Megs96_ What happens when an institution enforces safety rules that make members feel targeted or discriminated against? What happens when those rules are vague, unclear or not properly marketed or enforced? What happens when employees aren’t on the same page with the rules? “He told me I couldn’t come in ‘indecently covered,’” freshman fashion design major Lucia Kasoff said about her experience getting kicked out of the Foster Recreation Center at the beginning of the semester. She, like many other students, said she was frustrated and upset when told to leave the Rec
due to its dress code policy. “Enforcing our policy has become really difficult because students, instead of understanding that it’s for health reasons, think that we’re attacking the way that they are dressing,” Cindi Barnett, director of campus recreation, said. “It’s not singling out women, but it’s the female attire, not women in general.” Barnett said the policy has been in place for five years but is not stated anywhere on the Rec Center’s webpage. “It’s in the university policy library,” Barnett said. “To be honest, to find the university policy manual and then to find the policies for the Rec Center, you kind of have to know what you’re looking for and where to look because it’s embedded in a whole bunch of links.” Barnett said the Rec staff is working on mak-
Article VII. Section 10. Proper Attire Shoes must be closed toe and heel athletic shoes with rubber soles to participate in activities outside of the Aquatic Center. Shorts and Pants must be of athletic type. Jeans cut-off or frayed shorts, or any shorts/ pants with belt loops or belts are not permitted in workout areas. In order to help prevent the transmission of disease, shirts must have a full front, back, and sides, no lower than the elbow, to participate in activities outside of the Aquatics Center, including basketball.
ing direct links to the policy on the Foster Recreation Center webpage on the Missouri State website to make it more accessible to students. Certain exceptions to the rule are not written into the official policy, however. Shirts without sleeves are allowed but only if the opening for the cutout doesn’t dip below the elbows. The policy concerning how much of the back is covered is complicated. To see the policy in the update book, which each desk has a copy of, see page 2. Emily Fedynich, senior exercise movement science major, has worked at the Rec Center for five years and says they do allow racerback shirts. “I’ve never actually used the 10-inch or piece of paper rule; we kind of go off the eye,” Fedynich said. “It’s really a judgment call on us, and it’s really hard to make that judgment call. I don’t think it was ever clarified. What’s the actual policy? Can we clarify it? It’s been an ongoing thing where (administration) had to clarify it. Facility attendant Devon Couch, senior business administration major, said employees were told to enforce the “10-inch rule,” which refers to the length of shirt fabric on the upper back. “There’s a little bit of discrepancy,” Fedynich said of the instructions that were given to the student facility attendants. “Some kids will hear it and they’ll be told, ‘This is the policy. Enforce it.’ And, I mean, it literally goes out one ear and
they’ll be like, ‘This is what I thought we were doing.’” However, Fedynich said, staff is supposed to enforce what’s in the update book and there are only two policies in the binder: Article VII and the update. “It just takes time for them to actually go through the policy manual,” Fedynich said. “Konya Knackstedt is working on it right now; updating everything. She revises a lot of things, does all the behind the scenes. … It all has to go through the higher up.” Communication is lacking, said one student employee, who wished to remain unnamed, between administrators, student staff and student Rec Center patrons. The unnamed employee said many student facility attendants don’t know what to tell students when the employees aren’t informed on the policy, but are told to enforce it. The employee said that earlier in the semester there was an poster in a panel next to the gym that read ‘Appropriate dress attire.’ “I told them you need to consider taking those down because the word appropriate can completely misconstrue what we’re trying to go for,” the unnamed employee said. “What your whole point for the dress code is. Instead it should (read) ‘safe’ because it really is all about health.” Barnett said the Rec Center puts up signs at u See REC page 2
Cultural competence: Mission or work in progress? HANNA FLANAGAN Staff Reporter @hanna_flanagan Unidentifiable protesters, masked and dressed in black from head to toe, silently encircled Bearfest Village on Oct. 18, 2014, while Missouri State Homecoming attendees abandoned their tailgates to watch the demonstration unfold. This Missouri State protest was one of many nation-wide responses to the riots in Ferguson, Missouri. Early that October morning, a group of students chalked campus sidewalks with the names of police brutality victims and images to represent them. In the hours before kick-off, the same students stood solemnly, holding signs in support of Black Lives Matter. Outbursts from the crowd sparked questions of
intolerance and racism within the Missouri State community. “I participated in a protest on campus for Black Lives Matter and it was probably one of the hardest things that I’ve had to experience on the college campus,” senior intercultural communications major Dorrean Cunningham said. “We were being cursed at, we were being yelled at … faculty and staff were doing the same thing. Most black students didn’t feel comfortable.” According to the Missouri State website, the goal of cultural competence is to help students “recognize and respect multiple perspectives and cultures.” Cultural competence is one of the three pillars of the public affairs mission — a major piece of the Missouri State experience. But Cunningham, the president of the Association of Black Collegians, said backlash from the 2014 Homecoming demonstration is a direct example of Missouri State failing to abide
by its own governing principles. “They should pay attention to their own public affairs mission,” Cunningham said. “Out of the five years I have been at Missouri State, I haven’t really seen them implicate the public affairs mission.” Despite advertisements emphasizing diversity and the public affairs pillars, Cunningham said most black students do not feel welcomed at Missouri State. Statistically, black students and other minorities are outnumbered, both on campus and off. According to the 2016-2017 Missouri State Diversity Report, about 80 percent of students who enrolled in the fall were white. For the expanded version, visit www.the-standard.org
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Speaker Will Allen comes to campus See page 2
MSU film crew tells compelling story See page 5
Women’s soccer takes MVC championship See page 6