By Anna Hansen
An email with the subject line “A Healthy Competition,” sent to 180 Edgewood College community members on Feb. 28, has stirred confusion and criticism.
The email, sent by Chase Crull, vice president of Edgewood’s Student Veterans Association (SVA), encouraged participation in a weight loss competition modeled after the controversial reality TV show “The Biggest Loser.”
Some of the email recipients said they felt targeted due to their struggles with disordered eating.
Edgewood student Shawn Padley (they/them/theirs) is among those upset by the email. In a tweet, they said, “Not only has The Biggest Loser been proven to be ineffective and harmful, but basing a competition over the (false) idea that skinny = healthy is incredibly harmful to everyone involved,” Padley said.
Community backlash following the email also prompted the anonymous creation of a Twitter account, @didihurtyourfe2. The recently made account appears to only respond directly to posts regarding the email, mocking those who took offense.
Crull said he did not target anyone when choosing recipients. “It was intended to be a simple competition that if people were not interested, then they did not have to be active in it,” he said. “I had no knowledge of anyone that had eating disorders or would be offended. People that looked at the email and were offended made assumptions that were not implied.”
The idea for the competition, originally called the Healthy Living Challenge (HLC), originated in the fall of 2014, according to Matthew J. Schroeder, director of veterans’ affairs on campus.
Attracting 20 participants in its first round in spring of 2015, this is an event that has been occurring informally each semester since, supported by the SVA.
“Each of those who participated understood clearly that the purpose of the HLC was to encourage healthy living habits through realistic and constructive goal setting,” said Schroeder. “Additionally, it was stressed that while each participant was their own team, this was an event in which participants were encouraged to work together toward goals and keep each other accountable for their overall health.”
The beginning of this year’s competition also coincided with National Eating Disorder Awareness week; a fact not lost on displeased community members.
Schroeder said that was unintentional. “Since the SVA had not originally planned to organize this event, they were not aware of the overlap with the national eating disorder awareness week but have acknowledged the importance of spreading awareness regarding eating disorders.”
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