The Schaefer Gym hosted its first female-only gym session on Wednesday, February 6 from 9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. The entirety of the upper weight room was restricted to allow only women to exercise there for the duration of the hour and a half time slot, while the lower weight room was kept open as normal. Additionally, a personal trainer, Julie Ang, was hired to lead a more focused fitness regiment during the event, though attendees were welcome to use the space as they pleased.
Leading up to 9:30, the student working the front desk of the fitness center informed the roughly 10 men who tried to swipe in that the gym would be closing in 10 minutes. Schaefer was largely empty prior to the event, with only about five men in the gym when John Maurizi, the Director of Campus Recreation, began making preparations for the event to begin. He walked around the gym inspecting equipment for a few minutes as he talked to the trainer and the student employees crewing the entrance. At almost exactly 9:30 the scene changed quickly, Maurizi asked the remaining male lifters to clear out, and women very quickly began to arrive. Within the first 10 minutes, about 20 women had eagerly signed in and began to change. There were 29 women who had registered prior to the event, but at least five additional women showed up, and Maurizi allowed them to sign in regardless, showing how much interest the event had sparked.
The SGA initiative which created the event was spearheaded by first-year student E.J. Hannah, who said, “This wasn’t my idea. It came to me as a suggestion (meant for the SGA) from a student who felt uncomfortable at the athletic center.” Hannah elaborated by saying that since Engineering and Computer Science are such male-dominated fields, he was not surprised that the gender ratio at the gym and at Stevens as a whole is so extreme. Most of the students The Stute spoke to at the event echoed this feeling, such as Kate Rath, who said “I’m glad they’re doing it because there’s only ever guys in the gym.” Lastly, Hannah said that in a broader sense, this initiative could help make women feel more comfortable at Stevens in general. “I believe this is a start to hopefully something that goes beyond just making women more comfortable at the fitness center, and becomes more about fostering a community where all groups of people feel invited.”
The Stute briefly spoke with Maurizi at the event itself, who echoed concerns about women working out alone in a gym full of men, and felt it was good to offer women a time to have the space to themselves. He also said that he wanted to expand the event, first by instating a morning session in addition to the evening time block (which will likely continue to be either Wednesday or Thursday nights from 9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.), and second by expanding into other parts of athletics at Stevens.
Be First to Comment