Women at Bryn Mawr College are outraged after the school’s health center sent them an email encouraging them to join a "weight loss success" program because they had high BMIs.
Junior Rudrani Sarma was one of the students who got the email from the health center at the all-women's college, which had the subject line "Give a HOOT!"
Sarma said she was “extremely horrified” when she read the email.
Sarma said she was shocked by the insensitivity of the email, particularly because she was treated for an eating disorder at the same health center. She called the email “triggering.”
The English literature major was so angry, she wrote about the email on Facebook:
Her post got over 200 likes and dozens of comments, some from women who said they got the same email. One student said she responded to the email:
I'm a senior who's not only doing her senior project in a language other than English, and finishing an arts minor in photography... which means I've got better things to do. It's a shame, because you'd think a college like Bryn Mawr would trust me to set my own priorities. Quite frankly, you guys are asses for targeting students like this.
Sarma said she wrote the health center back, and was told she was included on the list by mistake. The center also promised to modify the language for the future.
Together, they women have formed a committee and are planning a protest or demonstration against Bryn Mawr “policing our body.”
They are also asking the college to apologize to the entire student body.
A spokesman for Bryn Mawr told BuzzFeed News that this is the third time the college has offered the program and this is the first time they have received complaints.
