To: President Lisa Freeman, members of the senior leadership team, and members of the Board of Trustees, 
 
Whereas NIU has long been seen as one of the last bastions of social and economic mobility in the State of Illinois, and the services it provides, the connections, and the community have elevated thousands out of poverty and provided opportunities to underserved and disadvantaged populations that would have otherwise been out of reach, and 
 
Whereas one of the services NIU has historically provided is a swimming pool that many of its disadvantaged students have either struggled to access, or have not had previous access to at all as many pools were segregated well into the 60’s, and with desegregation, many pools choose to close rather than integrate, denying access to swimming for generations of people of color (Gershon, 2019). To this day, significant racial disparities exist in terms of swimming abilities. For example, “Only 46% of Black and 47% of Latine children had swimming lessons, compared to 72% of white children” and “CDC reports Black children ages 10-14 years old drown in pools at rates over seven times higher than white children” (Samuelson, 2022), and 
 
Whereas Anderson Pool, located at 520 Garden Rd, DeKalb, IL 60115, in Anderson hall, served as a resource free for students to access. For many of the students, it was their first access to a public swimming pool due to the above-mentioned discrimination. The pool provided lessons for swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding, and other opportunities for disabled students to have a supportive exercise option, and recreational activities in general, and  
 
Whereas Anderson pool has served as a historic remedy for these injustices with free access to a pool, and the loss of this resource has been a devastating blow to the student body, and is walking back the progress of equity during a time when the rights of students are under attack.  

Whereas swimming is a preferred exercise option for students, staff, and faculty who are swimmers to relieve academic stress, and swimmers ought to have the pool option for their exercise since other students get basketball courts, ellipticals, treadmills, etc. for their chosen exercise, and 
 
Whereas the costs of swimming alternatives are prohibitively expensive for students in both money and time, since getting to the YMCA on bus 17 takes 30 minutes each way, and the NIU student membership cost is $50 to join, plus $38/mo or $456 for a year,
 
Therefore, we call on President Freeman and the Trustees to commit to funding and re-opening Anderson Pool for Fall of 2025, in order to provide a healthy fitness option for students, staff, and faculty; life saving swimming lessons; important mobility exercises for disabled students; and to assuage fitness and equity concerns.  

To do this, we petition the university to do the following: 

• Commit to a specific date to establish funding 
• Develop a rotation for lifeguards 
• Establish an advertising plan to include the presence of Anderson pool in future communications through the recreation department and orientation, as a lack of knowledge prevented usage from the Student Body.  

Taking these steps will restore this historic and crucial service to the students of NIU, and create a more equitable and healthier student body.  

Sources:

Gershon, L. (2019, June 21). When Cities Closed Pools to Avoid Integration. JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/when-cities-closed-pools-to-avoid-integration/

Samuelson, K. (2022). Racial, ethnic disparities in swimming skills found across generations. News.northwestern.edu. https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/12/racial-ethnic-disparities-in-swimming-skills-found-across-generations/?fj=1