After a successful first semester, UREC on the Geaux will be back in the spring to bring fitness to students.
UREC staff hosted weekly programs on the Parade Ground and in the Residential College Complex, seeing 216 participants over the course of seven weeks. Of those, more than 70 returned for a second session.
Wendy Windsor, associate director of programs and outreach, said she was pleased with the numbers, but she expects there are still students who have yet to hear of the program.
“Next semester, we will put a stronger marketing effort to really get more people out,” Windsor said. “We really want to see this continue to grow and really reach a larger population than the initial that we got out.”
Windsor said the most successful promotion came from participants and many students who returned a second time and brought friends with them.
“I know that those that did participate did a good job of going back and telling their friends and promoting it,” Windsor said. “Word of mouth is more valuable than most marketing efforts.”
Each week featured a different type of group exercise activity taught by the instructor who holds the class at the UREC.
Rachel Nguyen, chemical engineering freshman, taught different yoga classes at both locations but said the RCC was her favorite.
“I liked teaching at the RCC because I live there,” Nguyen said, “So I got to meet a lot of my neighbors, and that was a lot of fun.”
Nguyen said she loved when people who had not planned to participate joined in the fun, and she is eager for the program to start again.
“I love teaching yoga, and I definitely love sharing it with people,” she said.
Featured classes on the Parade Ground included Yoga for Relaxation, 3v3 soccer and Street Beats. Students participated in Vinyasa Flow, Insanity and Tabata Training at the RCC.
“Each time, we selected our more popular group exercise activities and those that we felt would generate interest among our students,” Windsor said.
In addition to the group exercise classes, students take part in other activities, like Almost Golf, Baggo, KanJam and volleyball. The staff also gave away Clif Bars and T-shirts to attract more participants.
“Each week, along with the typical program games that we bring out, we try to have a featured event,” Windsor said.
Windsor said one event was a s’mores clinic at the RCC and added that the greatest number of people came out for snowballs on the Parade Ground.
UREC on the Geaux was an opportunity to learn more about the services offered by the UREC, like gear rentals, GroupX classes, intramural sports and the climbing wall.
Windsor said the staff is excited about the next step of the program.
“We had numerous repeats, and those individuals were the ones that brought some of the other ones out,” Windsor said. “So it’s a great thing and we will be continuing it.”