Sound Body, Sound Mind

By Christian Bateson | Wednesday, May 22, 1996

"The degree requirement in physical education consists of completion of a program of three terms in physical activities....Satisfactory completion of the courses in physical activities is dependent upon attendance and improvement in physical ability and skills."

— The Dartmouth College Bulletin: Organization, Regulations, and Courses

Dartmouth has a proud and venerable tradition of fostering excellence in academics and athletics, producing men (and more recently women) with sharp minds and healthy bodies. Beyond the Freshmen Week swim test, Dartmouth requires the successful completion of three terms of college recognized physical activity to graduate. In 1996, it is becoming increasingly rare to find a College with such a requirement.

A large percentage of students fulfill their physical education requirements by competing in varsity or club sports. For students who choose not to play a team sport, the Department of Physical Education has traditionally offered courses which stress 'sound organic and physical structure and functional fitness,' such as skiing, tennis, swimming, and karate. Any entering student, not participating in athletics, was, until this point, required to take three such courses in his first two years at Dartmouth.

This term, for the first time ever, students at Dartmouth had the option of enrolling in a class entitled 'Alcoholism and a Culture of Addiction,' a one term class that is worth two terms of PE credit. Furthermore, there is no physical activity involved in the course at all. Students can get two thirds of their PE requirement out of the way without ever breaking a sweat or burning a single calorie.

This departure from tradition is just the beginning of the shift of the PE Department's focus from physical fitness to 'wellness.' Ken Jones, Director of Physical Education at the college, revealed his vision for the future of PE at Dartmouth: 'If I had my way, I'd make one term out of the three term requirement a specific required course, and it would be in the wellness area. It would be strictly a lecture/lab kind of course where we would try to get information out to students on the whole breadth of wellness, on things like stress management, time management, nutrition, and health risk management.'

In other words, every student would have to sit through a full term's worth of new-age conceptions of health. Instead of developing students through the proven method of exercise, the PE Department will seek to 'enlighten' them. According to Jones, 'times have changed, social mores have changed... it's a different world from the one I grew up in.' Regardless of this, a physical education program which doesn't involve exercise is not fulfilling its function. By giving students two PE credits for taking 'Alcoholism and A Culture of Addiction,' without nurturing them physically in any way, the Athletic Department is not only violating its own statement of purpose, but allowing those students to cheat themselves out of the physical development, which is an important part of the Dartmouth experience.

Sound Body, Sound Mind

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