Do some colleges still require passing a swimming test to graduate?

It's still (at least as of two years ago) a requirement at Williams College.

EmilyPost wrote:

Harvard and Cornell used to require passing a swimming test to graduate, and for good reasons.

Has this gone away due to political correctness?

And does the Navy still have one?

What is the good reason for such an irrelevant test?

The same could be said for taking Latin ,Greek or even French or reading The Classics.

Its to develop a well rounded person. And its probably the most practical thing you will learn at the Ivies these days.

And it could save your life or that of others.

Cornell still requires it

The articles I linked mention a variety of possible reasons for how the practice started, but none of the school historians know for sure on the origins of the swim test.

It sounds like it started in the early 1900s which would be around the time of both the Titanic and WW1. Some claim the test ensured that all college graduates would have this basic lifeskill. Or that a wealthy donor who lost a child due to drowning insisted on the swim test.

I'm intrigued by this thread because I remember my mom talking about this, but it hasn't crossed my mind in years.

EmilyPost wrote:

The same could be said for taking Latin ,Greek or even French or reading The Classics.

Its to develop a well rounded person. And its probably the most practical thing you will learn at the Ivies these days.

And it could save your life or that of others.

very big difference between being able to swim and knowing Latin. Like this comparison is absolutely irrelevant

As of 2012

http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2012/11/28/could-you-pass-these-college-swim-tests/

It's been dropped at a lot of schools. It is a relic of a time when college was for white upper crust suburban kids, most of whom had done some swimming. Part of the ethos of the well-rounded man that has been pretty much abandoned in America. At one school (I'm withholding the name) they had an African-American student drown. The swimming requirement was immediately abolished.

Old_Rag wrote:

EmilyPost wrote:

The same could be said for taking Latin ,Greek or even French or reading The Classics.

Its to develop a well rounded person. And its probably the most practical thing you will learn at the Ivies these days.

And it could save your life or that of others.

very big difference between being able to swim and knowing Latin. Like this comparison is absolutely irrelevant

Yeah, swimming is actually MORE practical than 99% of college.

In fact it may be too useful for the college curriculum.

I had to swim through a bunch of pvssy. I barely survived.

Old_Rag wrote:

EmilyPost wrote:

The same could be said for taking Latin ,Greek or even French or reading The Classics.

Its to develop a well rounded person. And its probably the most practical thing you will learn at the Ivies these days.

And it could save your life or that of others.

very big difference between being able to swim and knowing Latin. Like this comparison is absolutely irrelevant

I don't know. How do you know if you've reached terra firma if you can't swim or know Latin?

notrump wrote:

It's been dropped at a lot of schools. It is a relic of a time when college was for white upper crust suburban kids, most of whom had done some swimming. Part of the ethos of the well-rounded man that has been pretty much abandoned in America. At one school (I'm withholding the name) they had an African-American student drown. The swimming requirement was immediately abolished.

There's the PC I mentioned .."They" can't be taught to swim ..fat kids don't want to be seen in swimsuit and on and on..

Half the kids in college now don't belong there.

notrump wrote:

It's been dropped at a lot of schools. It is a relic of a time when college was for white upper crust suburban kids, most of whom had done some swimming. Part of the ethos of the well-rounded man that has been pretty much abandoned in America.

Not quite. The rise of the suburbs was a post-WW2 cultural phenomenon in the US. The swim test mostly originated pre-WW2.

You didn't even have to pass a swimming test to pass swimming class at my school. By the end of the class a few Nigerian kids still couldn't even tread water without floats.

It was still a requirement when I was a freshman in college (1986). But the requirement was finally dropped then next year and I didn't have to take the course.

Everyone referred to the class as "drownproofing". Students told me that, among other things, they were required to hold a brick above their head while treading water.

When it came time for me to do our swim test my senior year. I pointed to the record board above the pool. At the time I held pool, school, and conference records. The guy just let me leave.

Old_Rag wrote:

very big difference between being able to swim and knowing Latin. Like this comparison is absolutely irrelevant

Which of the two do you consider more useful or important?

Nice