Wasteland: Harvard Schedules, Facilities Complicate Staying in Shape

Instinct tells us that Harvard undergraduates have too much on their plates and that something's got to budge--such as their waistlines. After all, a diet of Tommy's and Cheese Nips, combined with hours of mime-like stasis in Lamont, doesn't exactly produce bodies to rival Chuck Norris.

But then there are the students who frantically pump iron at 1 a.m. in the house gym. And sing along to Motown hits of the 1960s at the top of their lungs. Many Harvard students, it seems, are as obsessive about Stairmasters as they are about Sartre.

Even if they don't all end up participating in varsity or junior varsity athletics, approximately 700 first-years come in for the athlete-mandatory sports physicals every year, according to David S. Rosenthal '59, director of the University Health Services (UHS).

"Students are much more perceptive about the need for physical activity than ever before," Rosenthal says.

But if administrators recognize the increase in exercise, students find Harvard's resources for recreational athletes are geriatric.

The Facilities Gap

Rosenthal insists that the University is committed to providing all students with the opportunity to stay fit. But undergraduates tend to complain about a gap between rhetoric and resources, particularly the gloomy Malkin Athletic Center (MAC).

"I'm not too impressed with the MAC at all," says Charles B. Watson '03, who plays intramural volleyball. "I've seen better in high school, and I feel like Harvard can afford to buy better equipment for students that can't go to the Murr [Center]."

Members of varsity athletic teams are allowed to use the weight rooms at the Murr Center--which was just opened last year.

"You can walk down some of the hallways in the MAC and it looks like an asylum, with its painted-over windows and exposed pipe fixtures," Watson says. "It's disgusting. I really don't see Harvard doing much to promote the fitness of its students."

Rosenthal readily admits that the MAC is too antiquated to meet student needs.

"The MAC isn't a modern facility, and the Murr Center doesn't meet everybody's needs," Rosenthal says. "There probably is a disconnect between promotion [of fitness activities] and physical resources."

These complaints come even after the University upgraded the cardiovascular equipment in the MAC last year, a move that some feel didn't go far enough.

"It may have made a small difference," says Gavin L. Delany '01, "but I don't really use Stairmasters, so it didn't affect me."

Yet despite wide-ranging complaints about the MAC and other athletic facilities, some students had more positive things to say about the resources devoted to non-athletes at the College.

"I think the MAC weight room is under-equipped, but in general there are plenty of other facilities," says Kyle L. Clayton '00, a devotee of the Mather House gym. "Outside of actual weights, there are a lot of options. It's not something that I've ever felt cheated about."

Some students who live in the Quad give the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center (Q-RAC) better reviews than its cousin by the river.

"I like the facilities in the Q-RAC," says Margo Strucker '02, a resident of Currier House. "There probably aren't a lot of machines, but not as many people are there."

A minority of non-athlete undergraduates have abandoned Harvard facilities in favor of Wellbridge, a fitness club located next to the Charles Hotel.

According to a Wellbridge employee, the number of student members has gone up due to a reduction in the club's minimum age requirement--from 21 to 18--that was targeted specifically at undergraduates.

Although "[Wellbridge] is expensive and Harvard is free," the employee says, "if [a student] comes here, they're usually dissatisfied with what Harvard offers."

"We never see business students over here, because we hear that they have a great facility over there," she continues, referring to the Harvard Business School gym, where undergrads are not allowed.

A Personal Choice

Whatever students feel about the University's commitment to student fitness, whether it be a matter of activities or equipment, nearly all stress that maintaining one's health is a personal decision.

"I don't expect Harvard to keep me in shape," Delaney says.

And even if the pressure at Harvard is ratcheted up a few more notches than at other schools, most students see personal fitness as a lifestyle choice that extends beyond the University.

"There are a good many people who would like to be fit, and don't do anything, but I don't think that's specific to Harvard," says Thomas H. Price '02. "It's mostly a question of how you prioritize it."

But some students emphasized that in order to stay calm and focused amid Harvard's constant deluge of papers, meetings and activities, they need to stay fit.

"After a run, you definitely feel more refreshed and ready to do things," says Andrea R. Tao '02, a Winthrop House resident. "Oftentimes you're better off going to the gym and then coming back to do a problem set. Otherwise you sit down to do the problem set and end up feeling groggy."

UHS Director Rosenthal, who notes that Harvard once had a mandatory physical education requirement, agrees.

"[Director of Athletics William J. Cleary '56] and I have met several times, and we both feel that a student who is finding some relief from academia is going to be more useful and more productive," Rosenthal says.

Rosenthal says students, as long as they don't have physical disabilities, should be engaged in some form of exercise for 30 minutes at least three times a week.

The Loss of the Team

Many undergraduates, especially those who played on teams in high school, see House intramurals as a way to stay active without the commitment of varsity athletics.

"[Intramurals] are a pleasant retreat from the daily grind," Watson says. "And I'm not pressured into doing it, which is what makes it kind of therapeutic."

Yet Tao argues that very few students get together to play team sports on an informal basis.

"Other than intramurals, there are no opportunities to get together and just play a sport casually," she says. "At other schools I feel like people get together randomly to go play football or other sports."

Strucker thinks the ultimate solution to students' fitness woes lies in the reintroduction of mandatory physical activity, for even just an hour a week.

"There would be some resistance, but if you had a lot of fun classes, like archery, people would enjoy it," she says. " If they're going to make us do [Quantitative Reasoning], I don't think gym's a big deal."