Members of the Harshman Chapman-Dunbar hall council are worried this winter’s cold weather and other obstacles could deter some students from trekking across campus to work out at the Student Recreation Center.
To help motivate students to exercise, the council hopes to put exercise equipment in the dorm’s lobby. They are waiting for approval from the Office of Residence Life.
The hall council hopes to put equipment such as a treadmill, bike and an elliptical machine in the residence hall. Workout videos, fitness balls and yoga mats would also be provided.
Amanda Stump, the resident hall director, said putting the equipment where students live could help inactive students incorporate exercising into their routines.
“If [students] get into a schedule of working out and enjoying it, then maybe they will be eventually going to the Rec for more facilities,” Stump said. “If they are someone who does not walk to the Rec, it might get them started here.”
An in-house workout facility would provide more benefits than just convenience and a way to avoid the cold. The hall council hopes the exercise area would improve the residence hall as a whole by attracting more students to live there.
Harshman isn’t usually the first place students choose to live when they request housing, said Marjory Johnson, vice president of Harshman Chapman-Dunbar Student Hall Council. With the new equipment, more people might choose to live there, including more upperclassmen.
“Since Harshman Chapman-Dunbar is so far away from [the main part of] campus, it gives people more benefits to live there,” said Johnson.
Johnson said having exercise equipment in the residence hall could help students fit exercise into their busy schedules.
“If you only have a half hour you can totally do it without planning your time and finding little gaps to work out,” she said.
Harshman Chapman-Dunbar would not be the first residence hall to put exercise equipment in their building. The Offenhauer Towers already have some machines.
Resident of Offenhauer, freshman Porscha Thomas believes what Harshman Chapman-Dunbar is doing is a great thing.
Thomas said having machines in the residence halls makes it easier for students to exercise.
“I didn’t want to go [to the Rec] because it was too cold,” Thomas said.
The Harshman hall council wants to provide a positive alternative for students, not prevent students from using the Recreation Center.
“We don’t want residents [to] stop using the Rec,” Johnson said.
Though the exercise area in the residence hall would provide less equipment than the Rec Center, Stump isn’t worried. She said putting the machines in the residence hall would be enhancing student life at BGSU.
Stump believes students should not just be academically successful, but also excel physically and spiritually. By having this workout room, no matter the size, she said it would be a great improvement to the residence hall.
“Everything we do here is focusing on student success,” Stump said.
