A review of the fitness offerings for women at UD (or lack thereof)
There are exactly four pull up bars on the entire University of Dallas campus. Two are in the gym, one is in Clark, and one is in Jerome. Not a single one is on the east side of campus or in a women’s dorm in general. At a university where the majority of students are women, , why are the fitness opportunities on campus disproportionately skewed towards men?
A poll taken from 44 UD women shows that only 39% find fitness somewhat easy to access on campus, while over half (57%) find fitness somewhat or very difficult to access. Freshman Drama major Clare Kelsch said, “The main hurdle is that even if you want to go and you get over the mental barrier, it’s so far that you still have the physical distance to keep in mind.” Junior business major Cassandra “Cassie” Barrows expressed that “I think it would be really intimidating for a girl who’s never done weightlifting or sports before to just walk into a gym and feel confident…the lack of space and equipment feels even more intimidating”.
Barrows is the founder of Women’s Wellness and Weightlifting (WWW). WWW is an affinity of the larger Zenia Society, and was inspired by Barrows’ “overall passion for women to empower themselves through lifting”. Barrows spoke about the inspiration behind the WWW initiative and said, “I think women are very undereducated when it comes to weight training specifically. I just decided, I have a passion for weight training myself and I might as well share it with people I know.”
Rosie McMunn, an alumna English major from the class of ‘25, started hosting monthly women’s gym nights during her senior year. McMunn said, “When I started going to the gym freshman year, I was super anxious and didn’t want to go alone, so I would always have to bring someone. In starting [the monthly gym nights], especially as an RA, I was thinking back to my freshman year and how much I would have loved having something like this back then.”
In addition to having less access to fitness equipment on campus than male students, women were explicitly prevented from forming teams to take part in the Olympics. Sophomore drama major Heidi Burke tried to form a team but was told by the people in charge that it was for men only. This sentiment directly clashes with our Disorientation talks, which include how important it is to take care of your body as well as your mind. Apparently, this only applies to men.
The new Theresa House System (THS) is focusing on making fitness accessible for UD women. THS is a group of sophomore women who are living in Theresa Hall to help mentor the freshman class of ‘29. As a THS member myself, I want to encourage Theresa women to embrace their capabilities in a safe space, which is why I am spearheading the efforts to get gym equipment for Theresa.
Beyond WWW and THS, Burke is also working independently on a new initiative to create an early morning running group to escape the burning Texas sun. Burke said, “I wanted to have space outside of official sports for anyone who wants a low stakes environment of camaraderie and personal growth.” If you’re interested in joining, you can contact Heidi at hburke@udallas.edu.
The lack of both quality and quantity in UD’s fitness opportunities presents a large concern for students’ physical health. According to Barrows, “We need a bigger facility to allow for more dynamic warm-ups and stretches to allow for more movement.” Our gym is nowhere near equipped to accommodate the entire student body, not to mention the university staff and professors who often frequent the fitness center. Expanding the current gym, maintaining the space more effectively, and promoting user accountability would go a long way towards improving the overall physical health of the student body. However, the most ideal change the university could make right now would be adding another fitness center on the East side.