Opinion BY Armin

My Name is Y… the Y

I had my first swimming lessons at the Y — well at “La Guay” since that happened in Mexico — I also saw my older brother get kicked in the face by a girl during a Karate championship, his nose bled; I played dozens of basketball games too in various locations in Mexico City. It wasn’t until I was old enough to party that I learned that the Y’s full name was actually YMCA through the Village People, and it wasn’t until later that I learned it stood for Young Men’s Christian Association. Being Jewish it baffled me for years that they allowed me to swim there or that they allowed my brother to get kicked in the face — being Jewish in Mexico means young Christian men don’t swim in your JCC (Jewish Community Center) and they don’t get their noses kicked there either. Needles to say, I am not the only Jew or Christian or other religious denomination individual to have done something at one of the 2,600 locations in the U.S. alone. Far from it: 45 million are part of this global non-profit organization whose mission it is “To put Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind and body for all.” After 43 years with the same logo, the organization is introducing a new identity system by Siegel+Gale and is adopting the moniker the whole world already has for it: the Y.

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