Disappointment with URI's New Fitness Center
By Alessandra Herrera
KINGSTON – The University of Rhode Island’s Campus Recreation program expanded with the opening of The Anna Fascitelli Fitness Center located on Butterfield Road. Although, the University as a whole has benefited greatly from this 33 thousand square foot full-service fitness and wellness center, some students still find the atmosphere a difficult one to work out in.
“Going to the gym is kind of intimidating being a girl in the first place, but never the less when there’s three squat racks all next to each other and there’s groups of guys huddling around [them], said Melissa Dimartino, a sophomore at URI.
Dimartino, along with a few other students feel as though the Fascitelli Center has become another fitness facility that is run primarily by the male gender.They would feel more comfortable and less intimidated with more gym equipment, mainly squat racks so that the other students could use them as well.
In an interview with Leticia Orozco, the Coordinator of Fitness and Wellness Programs at URI, she addressed the issue of the squat racks and why she had decided to allow only three of them at the Fascitelli Center.
“If I had five squat racks lined up and a whole bunch of ‘meathead’ feel down there, that would be an intimidating environment to do down to, said Orozco. “And that is opposite of the intent that we wanted to have here.”
Through careful planning, Orozco and her team have strategically built a facility that would encourage fitness and wellness on campus. They’re intention for the building was to create a “club feel” much unlike that of the Mackal Fitness Center on campus.
“It took me a solid three years to fight to get everything you see here,” said Orozco of the uphill battle she went through for the opening of the building.
The Anna Fascitelli Fitness Center has provided the student body at URI with a positive outlook on fitness and through the programs they offer, Campus Rec is hopeful that students unhappy with the facility will come around and appreciate the hard work put into building this new addition to the Kingston campus.
“Going to the gym is kind of intimidating being a girl in the first place, but never the less when there’s three squat racks all next to each other and there’s groups of guys huddling around [them], said Melissa Dimartino, a sophomore at URI.
Dimartino, along with a few other students feel as though the Fascitelli Center has become another fitness facility that is run primarily by the male gender.They would feel more comfortable and less intimidated with more gym equipment, mainly squat racks so that the other students could use them as well.
In an interview with Leticia Orozco, the Coordinator of Fitness and Wellness Programs at URI, she addressed the issue of the squat racks and why she had decided to allow only three of them at the Fascitelli Center.
“If I had five squat racks lined up and a whole bunch of ‘meathead’ feel down there, that would be an intimidating environment to do down to, said Orozco. “And that is opposite of the intent that we wanted to have here.”
Through careful planning, Orozco and her team have strategically built a facility that would encourage fitness and wellness on campus. They’re intention for the building was to create a “club feel” much unlike that of the Mackal Fitness Center on campus.
“It took me a solid three years to fight to get everything you see here,” said Orozco of the uphill battle she went through for the opening of the building.
The Anna Fascitelli Fitness Center has provided the student body at URI with a positive outlook on fitness and through the programs they offer, Campus Rec is hopeful that students unhappy with the facility will come around and appreciate the hard work put into building this new addition to the Kingston campus.