By Abigail Connolly

In a Feb. 7 email from Officer in Charge Dr. Mary C. Toale, SUNY Oswego announced that they would not be charging students to use the on campus fitness centers. The removal of the fee would last through the rest of the spring semester.

“We are thrilled to announce students’ no membership fee access to SUNY Oswego’s fitness centers for spring 2022 as the first use of the HEERF (Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund) Mental Health and Wellness funds,” the email stated. 

Two months later, the Fitness Center sent out an email to students that had used their facilities during the free spring semester, linking a survey to determine the impact the funding had. It is important that they gather this data in order to understand the impact that having the fitness centers free for use has on the mental and physical health of students. 

In the Feb. 25 issue of the Oswegonian, I called into question why the move for free gym memberships was not made sooner.  After the negative financial impacts COVID-19 caused, man students lost income and a way to pay for nonessentials. 

While it is understanable that the fitness centers may not be considered completelty “essential” to living, it would be ignorant ot ignore the numerous benefits having a space to exercise has on both mental and physical health. The fitness centers on campus are generally regarded as having more than adequate resources, machines and support. They place emphasis on creating a community through various group classess, challenges and events, all of which gve students an opportunity to meet new, like-minded people in a positive setting. Something that may otherwise be difficult for students to do in the collegiate setting. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that students who are physically active are more likely to have better grades, school attendance, memory and classroom behavior. Additional studies confirmed that the higher the physical activity and physical fitness levels are, the better cognitive performance will be. Not only does offering the gyms as a resource keep students more phsyically fit, it has the potential to improve class structure and students potential. 

SUNY Oswego made a fantastic decision in allowing students free access to these facilities. Students who may not have been able to afford the previous fees now have access to a healthy outlet on campus. 

The survey sent out is going to help determine whether thisresource will cotinue to be readily available to students. For the sake of mental, physical and community health. It is necessary for many students to feel as though they have a release from the everyday stresses of college life and for many that place is the fitness center. Now that it has been offered fro fre, I thik students may be hard pressed to want to pay the $65 fee for access. 

The HEERF would be well spent on the SUNY Oswego fitness centers and would offer students a space to improve their overall well being. 

Kailee Montross | The Oswegonian