People are just finding out elite colleges took nude photos of all incoming freshman including some world leaders
College ends up being a wild and explorative place for most but people are simply stunned that some of the most elite colleges have had students pose for nude photos as freshman.
Yeah...that’s a no from me dawg. If I had paid all this money and got the grades to come to an elite college, asking me to strip off in my first year and pose for photos might just be a bit too much.
But unfortunately, for some of the freshman at some of the most elite colleges in the US, this is exactly what they had to do.
The practice was actually taking place between the 1940s and 1970s at the Ivy League schools.
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So what was the reason? Well, it was reportedly to study posture and body types. They were also used to reportedly gauge the rate and severity of rickets, scoliosis, and lordosis in the population
Yup, so all the freshmen at these schools were required to pose nude for black and white images, each standing upright from front, back and side perspectives.
The photos were eventually taken by eugenicists W. H. Sheldon, who believed there was a relationship between body shape and intelligence and other traits.
Sheldon’s work has since been dismissed by most scientists who pretty much just call it quackery, but the photos have remained.
Meaning that some of the most famous individuals between the 40s and 70s have a nude photo of them out there somewhere.
Back in 1995 the Smithsonian Institution got a hold of the photos and halted public access.
Among those who would have been subject to the ritual were former president George Bush and Hillary Clinton.
Now this story is fascinating on its own but people on social media simply can’t believe this ever happened in the first place.
On the Reddit board 'Today I learned', users admitted to finding the whole thing both hilarious and shocking.
“We need to take completely nude pictures of you all…for posture checks,” one person wrote stunned.
“Did they have to be nude, though? You can see scoliosis, lordosis and rickets just fine with yo' draw's on,” another added.
“I'm just wondering WHY THE HELL colleges would even be doing this in the first place. Like, I legitimately can't even guess what kind of excuse they'd have for doing that, let alone a reason,” a third wrote.
“Anyone ever get the sinking feeling that fifty thousand airy joke comments prevents any real discussions ?” one concerned user added amidst all the jokes.
Gerrard Kaonga