Staff Editorial: Boxing hit below the belt

The Recreation Department's decision to eliminate Penn's Boxing Instructional class is unfortunate and should be reconsidered.

The class has, for the last four years, provided interested Penn students with an opportunity to learn to box. It also provides the boxing club with its only opportunity to recruit new members. Canceling the class is the deathknell for the boxing program at Penn.

The department believes that the class presents a safety risk, but instructor Ron Aurit is quick to point out that he has not seen a student seriously injured under his tutelage during the 25 years he's been at Penn. Its safety record is one that most club sports would be envious of.

Boxing presents no more serious a threat to its participants' safety today then it did in 1998, when the class was first held. It is no less safe than Tae Kwon Do or rugby, to give two examples. Yet Penn has singled it out.

If the department's claim that Aurit's class violates the "'non-contact' guidelines" is in fact true, the proper course of action would be to rectify this problem rather than taking the drastic step of canceling the course. There are a number of moves the department can take short of ending the class to minimize the risk. Create new, more stringent safety guidelines for boxing. Monitor the class more carefully.

There is no compelling reason to deprive Penn students of the chance to try their hand at the sport. We hope that the Recreation Department will reconsider its ill-thought out decision and provide for the future of safe boxing at Penn.

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