The Omnibus

Denying Hinduism's influence at SBU

Student responds to article in "Pathway"

Charlotte Holman

Issue date: 10/19/07 Section: Forum

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Media Credit: Keegan Evans

Students, faculty and staff improve their flexibility and core strength at Meyer Wellness Center. The class formerly known as "Yoga" takes place on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. in the aerobics room. SBU offers a variety of fitness classes including Cardio Step, Killer Abs, Body Sculpting, Balls and Bands and Kickboxing.

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In the Oct. 2 issue of "The Pathway," an article appeared under the headline "SBU offers 'Yoga with Sarah' on campus." It was small and embedded in the article "Hinduism influence on the rise." There is nothing on the page or over the article suggesting it is an editorial, and it has been categorized by "The Pathway" as a news story.
Let me take this moment to draw your attention to the heading of this page. It reads Forum. It is the opinion section of "The Omnibus" therefore this article is not attempting to be objective.
In case you didn't read the article about SBU, I encourage you to read it yourself, but I will summarize briefly. The article states that SBU offers a yoga class at the Wellness Center.
It then uses an article from yoga.com and quotes from Subhas R. Tiwari, a professor at the Hindu University of America, to give us background on yoga and Hinduism and let us know that the two should not be separated.
The article then quotes J.D. Lynch in an effort to show that SBU sees nothing incompatible with the University's mission statement (emphasis on the Christ-centered part) and yoga being unChristian. The article concludes by telling us that Hannibal LaGrange College does not offer a yoga class, just in case you were wondering.
Don Hinkle, editor of "The Pathway," informed me in a phone interview that this article was in fact a news article.
However, the way the facts are strung together, there is little room to doubt that "The Pathway" does not believe yoga and Christianity can work together, and it would seem they don't believe SBU is in line with its mission statement by offering yoga.

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