The Student Recreation Center broke a record the second week of school
when 1,861 students visited the facility in one day. In 2010 the record
was set at 1,822 people. A decline in student attendance is a normal
occurance after the initial weeks of school.
Brianna Campbell / Collegian File Photo
Fewer students are attending the Student Recreation Center compared to the begining of the semester, according to the gym attendance rates.
“Yeah, [they] dropped quite a bit,” Derek Walters, director of the Student Recreation Center said. “We average about 1,700 visitors a day the first week or two. Then we dropped down to about 1,400 to 1,500 the past few weeks.”
The SRC, which has been on campus for over five years, provides students with a place to exercise and offers activities such as cardio classes, games and intramurals athletics.
Walters believes the reason for the decline in gym attendance might be due to an increase in academic expectations.
“The demands in classes increase, the work becomes more rigorous,” Walters said. “Students are having to buckle down with academics and coming to the SRC may not be as much of a priority.”
Walters said that the sixth week of attendance is typically low. Past years at this time have also had an average of 1,300 to 1,400 people from Monday through Thursday. Numbers are even lower on weekends, Walters added.
Gabriel Aguilar, a staff member at the SRC, has also noticed the significant decrease in numbers.
“There were definitely a lot of people that came in during the first couple weeks,” Aguilar said. “The attendance was extremely high and this place was extremely busy.”
The SRC set a record on Monday during the second week of school with 1,861 people visiting the facility. The previous record was 1,822 people on Jan. 25, 2010.
“I think that at first maybe people were just excited about working out and meeting new people, but now they have met everyone and just have other things to do,” Aguilar said.
Aguilar believes that since the gym was so crowded in the begging, it could have discouraged a number of students from attending.
Fresno State student Renee Schantin usually works out twice a day during the week at the SRC.
“I think people just go to the gym to impress others and not really to lose weight or stay healthy,” Schantin said. “Since they don’t go for themselves, their drive just dies out, and soon they find other things to preoccupy their time.”
Schantin brought up how many students worry about the “freshmen 15,” yet stop caring about their weight after a week in school.
“People just forget to work out because they had physical education or spots before, but now they need exercise to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”
“To increase SRC membership, we try to go to different fairs that go on campus, such as Dog Days,” Walters said.