E. L. Wiegand Fitness Center: An investment in the well-being of our campus

Since opening its doors in mid-February - and welcoming 4,200 students, faculty and staff who walked through the doors on that first day - the E. L. Wiegand Fitness Center has helped position the University for an exciting future.

The facility is meeting a need on our campus, from prospective students and their parents who indicate that such a facility can provide the difference in school choice, to current students who, according to national studies, show higher rates of academic accomplishment when they regularly visit a fitness facility such as our 108,000-square-foot facility.

Beyond the state-of-the-art equipment and the around-the-clock programming that the E. L. Wiegand Fitness Center offers our campus, it's important to note the greater value of this building. Inherent in its operation is a value system that will be of benefit to our students long after they graduate from our University. We have become an institution of higher learning that stresses the mental, physical and spiritual well-being of all of our students. Our efforts to become a healthier campus have included more nutritious food options for students; the initiative to become a tobacco-free campus and to offer counseling and educational opportunities for individuals who wish to cease tobacco use; and, with the opening of the E. L. Wiegand Fitness Center, a continuing evolution of the best industry practices and opportunities for our students to improve their fitness and their overall personal effectiveness in all tasks of life through physical activity.

It's important that we continue to pass this value system on to our students. Not only are we providing them a place to work out and to relieve stress, we are demonstrating a commitment to helping all individuals on our campus realize wellness- and fitness-based strategies that will help them reduce the possibility of chronic diseases, and to improve the quality of their lives.

The past few months have been a whirlwind of activity for all of the staff associated with the daily operation of the E. L. Wiegand Fitness Center. I can't thank these individuals enough for their devotion to this work, which has greatly contributed to how quickly use of the facility has caught on with the campus as a whole.

Speaking of this, the campus community, obviously, has also been extremely supportive and enthusiastic in its embrace of the E. L. Wiegand Fitness Center. To all those who have used the facility and who keep coming back to use it: Thank you.

The past semester has shown that there is a clear appetite for people on our campus to use all of the offerings we have. In the coming months and years, we plan to continue to provide the encouragement and means for many more individuals to come through the doors of the E. L. Wiegand Fitness Center. Once they come through our doors, they are making one of the most important investments a person can ever make in realizing a healthier and more productive future.