How much skin can be shown at the gym? What's the proper balance between comfort and safety? Does UCF enforce policy in a sexist manner? These questions and more have grown from a recent incident at the UCF Recreation and Wellness Center (RWC).

On July 14, UCF student Austin Medlin was asked to leave the RWC because of the string tank top he was wearing. The shirt left his shoulders and a portion of his chest and back exposed. In a Facebook post that day, Medlin claimed that the policy was inconsistently enforced: "Today at the UCF Rec and Wellness Center I was approached and told my tank top was much too revealing, unsafe, and unsanitary. I then showed pictures and pointed out five females currently in the gym dressed the very same way and that I was being targeted and unfairly reprimanded."

In an interview with Odyssey, James Wilkening, director of the Recreation and Wellness Center, defended the policy concerning "appropriate athletic attire" at the gym.

"It is not a sexist policy. In fact, it is gender neutral," Wilkening said. "My goal is to keep people healthy. There's been an increase in staph infections and skin disease, so we've had to make our policy more specific...we researched 30 other institutions to develop our policy, and we're definitely not the strictest one. We're kind of in the middle."

Wilkening also dismissed the claims of sexism, offering a comparison to traffic violations: "If you were to go on University [Boulevard] right now, there would probably be plenty of people speeding. Maybe one time you look and there are more women speeding than men. Maybe the next time you look, it's the opposite." He said that even if there are more women than men getting away with violations at a given time, it doesn't mean that the policy is unfairly enforced all the time.

The day of the incident, Medlin put up an online petition titled "Revoke UCF RWC Stringer Ban" on Change.org. The petition is addressed to the UCF RWC and its staff: "The [string tank top] rule is unreasonable and hinders our freedom of expression. It suppresses our personalities and is an attempt to limit our apparel; one of the most basic forms of demonstrating your individuality. In no way does the rule scientifically prove to be more sanitary nor does it have any other proven benefit. String tank tops have also not been proven...[to raise] risk factors while working out. While safety and sanitation are very real issues, string tank tops have not been a contributing factor in any way to these problems." The petition garnered 500 signatures within a few days and has now been signed by more than 800 people.

In a July 15 update to the petition, Medlin reported that the RWC had banned him from their facilities and sent him to the Office of Student Conduct for a hearing. Medlin said he was banned for being "continually disrespectful."

Wilkening, the RWC director, was unable to comment specifically on Medlin's status due to FERPA (Federal Educational Rights and Privacy) laws. However, he did clarify that his facility hasn't banned and won't ban anyone because of a single apparel violation. He said students have been banned for starting fights, threatening other students, and for using profanity toward staff members. It seems that Medlin's ban stemmed from his conduct during and after the incident, although he claims that he was not being disrespectful. It remains unclear what exactly led to Medlin's ban because he did not respond to our requests for comment. A video of the incident purportedly exists, but it has not yet surfaced in its entirety.

While the RWC has not made any drastic policy changes, they have updated, specified, and clarified their regulations on athletic attire in response to the incident. On July 29, the UCF Recreation and Wellness Center's Tumblr page posted a detailed "FAQ" regarding fitness attire policies, which admits that "the policy definition was ambiguous to both users and staff leading to a wide variety of interpretations...we will further define our original intention by editing some aspects of the policy." The policy now reads: "Shirts or tank tops must be worn at all times. Shirts or tank tops must cover the lower back, front and sides of the torso. Shirts that are manufactured or altered to expose the abdominal area or ribcage are not considered appropriate."

The RWC has also updated its policy with a detailed guide concerning athletic apparel. Take a look:

In our interview, Wilkening stressed the importance of balancing democratic ideas with the health of the RWC's users: "We have taken feedback and adjusted our policy, but our highest priorities are risk management and equipment maintenance," he said. "Number one, we don't want anyone getting sick. Number two, sweat makes the machines deteriorate more quickly." Wilkening defended the restrictions and made it clear that he cares more about the health and safety of students than he does about a public outcry, regardless of the 843 supporters that have signed Medlin's petition so far.

Now that Medlin's disagreement has been brought to light, it will be intriguing to see if students will more easily be able to follow the newly clarified RWC policy in the future. While there have been no other publicized incidents since, perhaps the coming semester will reveal whether the Recreation and Wellness Center truly enforces an unfair, sexist policy, or if this was simply an isolated incident.