The Undergraduate Student Government Association (USGA) has passed the legislation and budget proposal necessary to create and fund a program that allows students to rent full-body swimsuits from RecWell for use in the leisure pool.
Mareena Kashif, USGA minority senator, said she decided to create this legislation after she and several female Muslim students, wearing exercise clothes in the pool, were asked to exit the pool in December of 2016.
“My friends and I went to the leisure pool… in [polyester] exercise wear, not your traditional bathing suit material, because due to our religion, we can’t wear those types of clothing into the pool,” said Kashif.
Kashif said they were asked to leave the pool by Recwell staff because they weren’t allowed to wear athletic clothes in the pool. After asking to speak to a supervisor, they were told that the fabric of their clothes would damage the pool.
“We were already wet, and we felt kind of uncomfortable in that situation … we asked the person who was telling us this ‘can you tell us why we can’t swim?’” said Kashif. “And they told us it was because the material of our clothing would damage the pool.”
Kashif, who at the time of the incident was not an SGA senator, wanted to find out more information about the policies related to Muslim students, or students who may just want more coverage with their swimwear, and what they may be able to wear in the pool. She worked with Sanya Rashad, USGA commuter senator, to investigate.
“First we looked into other schools to see what their pool policies are. One of the Florida schools had a similar policy to NSU’s, but all the other schools we spoke to said that they don’t let students wear whatever they want in the pool, like jeans and such, but they do allow athletic wear,” said Rashad.
According to Rashad and Kashif, they brought this information and a student survey that showed support for allowing athletic wear in the pool to Tec Clark, associate director of aquatics and scuba diving. They both were told that there would be no change to the policy that was in place.
“[Tec Clark] said that they do try to limit [other swimwear of undesirable materials] in the pool. Usually bikinis are made out of the correct material, is what he said, and they only allow certain types of shorts in the pool,” said Rashad.
As of March 16, Clark did not provide a comment to The Current.
Clark allegedly suggested that the students buy a suit like a “burkini,” which is a style of suit that covers most of the body, and has been popularized more recently in the Muslim community.
Rashad said that these suits can be quite pricey, with prices from $70 to over $100. For students who would like to swim occasionally, in the pool that they pay fees for, Rashad said this is too pricey.
As a compromise, Rashad and Kashif came up with the idea to have full body suit rentals for the leisure pool. They worked with RecWell to ensure that the suits could be regularly cleaned and accessible.
Kashif and Rashad expressed that this would give students who may otherwise have felt “singled out” the opportunity to enjoy the pool and facilities just like any other NSU student.
SGA passed legislation that will fund the purchase of 12 full-body suits, with multiples of several sizes, that students can rent to wear in the pool. The suits are estimated to be accessible at RecWell within the coming month, depending on shipping.
