Same thing, different year. The sun comes out and so do the half- naked girls on campus. I’m graduating in three weeks, and I’m still not used to seeing this happen. I’m a woman, and I still feel uncomfortable with seeing bikini clad women lounging around campus throughout the entire day. May I offer you a little decorum? I have plenty; I can probably loan some out if necessary.
With Spring Weekend booths set up on Stubbs Lawn, the sunbathing was forced to move to other parts of campus. Walking around, I’ve seen these women and men lying on Wheeler Lawn and directly outside of the academic buildings that line High Street. That’s bad, and you should probably not be sunbathing outside of Ruffner or Grainger because, well, you just shouldn’t; it’s not tactful. But that’s not the worst part of sunbathing weather.
The worst part is how professors and other students feel about seeing half naked people around campus.
I have spoken to several professors – who do not want to be named – about how they feel walking around campus surrounded by nakedness on a daily basis now that the weather is warm.
One male professor stated, “I feel like a perverted old man. None of the professors look at these girls intentionally or in a sexual manner, but there’s nothing else to look at because if you look straight ahead of you, you will fall over one of them napping on the lawns and then falling on a woman would turn into a huge mess for all of us.”
A female professor stated, “I don’t want to see that. To get from my office to my academic building, I have to participate in the maze these girls are forming with their bodies. I get [that] it’s their home for the year, and they may lie out in the sun at their original homes, but this is an academic setting. Save that for the weekend when professors aren’t here. I have daughters, and I don’t want to see them sunbathing all the time either. On a side note, it’s not healthy!” Some professors may not have a problem with it, or just ignore it, but it’s becoming harder and harder to ignore the flesh-colored speckled lawns around campus. There are plenty of other options for the people who want to tan on a beautiful day. There are other lawns on campus that aren’t travelled by faculty, staff and students, so why don’t people just lay out on them? I don’t blame professors for feeling uncomfortable around their half-naked students. If I were a professor, I wouldn’t want to see my student dressed like that either. It’s unprofessional.
One professor mentioned how one of his students even tried to talk to him while she was sunbathing in her bikini. He couldn’t stop to talk to her. It’s not the image that professors want of their students.
There has been talk amongst the student body of restricting the tanning to Stubbs Lawn or elsewhere because professors don’t teach around there.
Yes, this is our home for four years, but these professors have been here longer and will stay longer than we will. They deserve some sort of respect by not having to see their students half-naked soaking up the sun. Often, I don’t even want to see some of my peers basking in the sun. Why?
This isn’t the beach. This is an academic setting. Often, classes meet on Wheeler Lawn for their class period. How can a class concentrate on their subject if they’re surrounded by this? The bricks directly in front of Wheeler Dormitory are perfect for having class, but some professors may begin to feel uncomfortable with taking their students outside.
Several students, even male students, agree. Junior, Lauren Ginder stated, “I don’t know why they can’t wear shorts and a tank top. You’ll get the same amount of sun, but you’ll be covered. You can easily roll the tank top up some so your stomach and back get tan, but there’s no need to be hanging around in your bikini in public.”
I think some of the students on this campus need to realize that people don’t care to see you in your bikini day after day. This isn’t an issue of body image; it’s an issue of being uncomfortable walking through campus. I don’t care if you’re a size two or a size 22; there’s a beach three hours down the road that’s for sunbathing. There are pools around town for that, too.
Students forget that this is a home of academia first and foremost. That’s why we’re all here, and hanging out in your bathing suits, making professors and fellow students uncomfortable, hinders the success of academia. Yes, we are all students here and live here, but why can’t that just be what the weekend is for, not the week days when professors are walking around.
