It’s not really stunning that a patriarchal institution like Oral Roberts University is doing something remarkably invasive, but the question is whether the school is an outlier for long or just for now. ORU will require incoming freshmen to wear Fitbit in order to monitor their exercise, food, sleep, location and body weight. A school founded by a “faith healer” that’s utilizing new technologies is bound to “lay its hands” on others in off-putting ways, though wholly secular bodies will likely attempt similar things in the not-too-distant future.

From Elizabeth Chuck at NBC News:

An Oklahoma university is taking a novel approach to fighting the “Freshman 15”: Require all incoming students to wear fitness trackers.

Oral Roberts University, a Christian university in Tulsa, announced earlier this month that all first-years must wear Fitbits — watches that track how much activity a person does. Their fitness data will be tracked by the school and will affect students’ grades.

While mandatory for all incoming freshman this year, Oral Roberts said it “has opened the program up to all students,” and said the campus bookstores have already sold more than 550 of the popular gadgets.

The university has always included a fitness component in its curriculum, requiring students to “manually log aerobics points in a fitness journal” in past years. The students get graded on their level of aerobic activity.

Now, instead of tediously entering the data by hand, it will be automatically tracked and submitted by the Fitbits, which retail for about $150.

“ORU offers one of the most unique educational approaches in the world by focusing on the Whole Person — mind, body and spirit,” ORU President William M. Wilson said in a statement. “The marriage of new technology with our physical fitness requirements is something that sets ORU apart.”

The Fitbit requirement is a first of its kind for colleges and universities, Oral Roberts said.•