By Elyse Ashburn

Lincoln University's faculty voted on Friday to scrap a controversial requirement that students must have their height and weight measured as freshmen and, if that ratio suggests they are obese, take a one-credit course called "Fitness for Life" before they graduate. The vote comes after weeks of complaints at the university, in Pennsylvania, and intense national and international media attention.

Under the new faculty proposal, campus health educators would not calculate each students' body-mass index, or BMI. All students would still be required to take "Dimensions of Wellness," a two-credit course for freshmen and sophomores. Professors who teach that course would evaluate the students' health and physical fitness and, at the end of the semester, recommend that certain students take the additional one-credit course, which features walking, Pilates exercises, and fitness games. Students would not be required to do so, however.

Ashley E. Gabb, assistant director of communications, said that university administrators generally support the proposed changes to the curriculum, though some details—such as what professors would base their recommendations on—will need to be worked out. The final proposal would have to be approved by the university's Board of Trustees, which she said is not scheduled to meet until next year.

"It wasn't our intention to cause such a controversy, and it wasn't our intention to have an adverse effect on students," Ms. Gabb said. "The university is still firm on its belief that we need to take a proactive approach to our students' health."

The old requirement will probably still be in place when the spring semester starts. And Ms. Gabb said that, for now, seniors whose BMI's were above 30 as freshmen—which indicates obesity—are expected to take the one-credit course in the spring if they haven't already done so and plan to graduate in May. Either that, or the students can "test out" by passing a sports course or by showing that their BMI's have dropped below 30.

Lincoln adopted the BMI-testing and fitness-course requirement for freshmen who enrolled in 2006. Earlier that year, the department of health, physical education, and recreation had begun revising its curriculum and decided that the university should do more to help students at the historically-black institution become more physically fit.

The requirement did not cause much controversy until this fall, when the university sent e-mail messages to about 80 seniors who had yet to fulfill the requirement. Then last month, student newspaper, The Lincolnian, wrote an article about students and faculty members complaining about the policy. The story took off from there, landing the college on CNN, in The New York Times, and on the pages of other papers all over the country and the world.

James L. DeBoy, chair of Lincoln's health department, had defended the requirement, saying that the university's goal was to keep students healthy. "There's an obesity epidemic," Mr. DeBoy told The Chronicle last month. "The data are clear that many young people are on this very, very dangerous collision course with heart disease, diabetes, and stroke—health problems that are particularly bothersome for the African-American community."

Mr. DeBoy could not be reached by phone or e-mail Friday. But Ms. Gabb said that he proposed the changes to the requirement. And, she said, there were no dissenting votes.