LaSalle University should open campus pool to Northwest Philly residents | Opinion

Last week, a public pool less than a quarter mile from La Salle University’s campus at Belfield Recreation Center was drained and shut down amid violence in the community. Neighborhood children who wanted to cool off and have a safe space outside of their homes this summer have been caught in shootouts between rival gangs. The pool reopened on Monday, but it was closed for weeks last year and another shooting could shutter it again this summer.

While La Salle’s campus is greatly insulated from city gun violence, just beyond the university walls are residential neighborhoods that are not. .

In 2018, Philadelphia saw 351 homicides; nearly 82% of them involved guns. This epidemic disproportionately affects black communities as guns continue to be the leading cause of death in Philadelphia for young black males. The injury rate from guns is even more catastrophic for families touched by gun violence. And that’s not the only public health crisis facing the city’s children who are challenged by a lack of healthy food in their neighborhoods, high asthma rates, and toxic, underfunded schools. They deserve better — and there are small ways that the community can help.

I have an ask today for the La Salle community, one I am proud to be a part of as an alum. President Colleen Hanycz, the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, students, and alumni: Let’s open the indoor Kirk pool at the university to our neighborhood children and their families so that they have somewhere safe to swim.

Swimming is not only a way to cool down, it is a good form of exercise that is an essential lifesaving skill. Studies have found that 79% of kids from low-income families (those earning 50K or below) have little to no ability to swim. The study also showed that nearly 64 percent of African American children were at higher risk of drowning, due partially to an overall lack of pool access. The City of Philadelphia has worked hard to buck these national trends. Philadelphia is home to the largest outdoor public pool network in the United States; they offer students free swim lessons. But gun violence is challenging these efforts.

While La Salle cannot provide a cure-all to the gun violence in our communities, opening its doors to neighborhood children to swim is a step in the right direction. La Salle has shown before that they take the public health crisis in the community seriously. In 2009, La Salle helped bring a Fresh Grocer supermarket to the neighboring food desert. Until then, North Philadelphia had not seen a new supermarket in 40 years.

La Salle was built on the values of the Christian Brothers order who are guided by faith, service, and community. On their website, the university shares: “At La Salle University, we firmly believe in the power of community to shape futures, change lives, and transform neighborhoods. We pride ourselves on creating opportunities that help Explorers embrace their individuality, interconnectedness, and capacity to support their fellow human beings.”

And now my fellow Explorers, it is time to prove our values.

Dena Ferrara Driscoll, a 2006 graduate of La Salle University, is a public space advocate and lives with her family in South Philly. @bikemamadelphia

Editor note: This piece has been updated to include the news that the pool reopened on Monday.