Working Out the Gym
- thepaper6
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
By Alyssa Beaumont
The students of The City College of New York (CCNY) make good use of the Wingate Fitness Center, and it shows. However, they have expressed discontent with the current state of the equipment in the center. The gym didn’t open for weeks after the fall semester began, and its grand reopening boasted “out of service” signs on every other machine and faulty pieces of equipment that have allegedly made students fearful to use them. Of the four Stairmasters in the gym, only one remains functional, and the eyesore of dilapidated machines can be seen all over the gym. Students agree that a change is needed, but some fear that change may never come.
Nafissatou Yattassaye, a freshman athlete at CCNY, has mixed emotions about the fitness center. She shares that “the space, although filled with music and chatter, also makes it hard for high-intense/effective workouts to be had in such a space that is limited and also in the midst of rumors of a revamp.” A solid 30 to 40-minute workout is possible, but due to a lack of equipment, Nafissatou says that she has to constantly wait for machines to be available. Students continue to go to the gym, but with no updates or safety measures coming in the near future, the state of the gym remains the same.
Rumors of budget cuts for the gym have been circulating, but there has been no official confirmation of this or upcoming improvements for the gym. The Paper tried to get a statement from the Director of Recreation & Campus Fitness, James Versailles, but received no response. If students feel like the Wingate Fitness Center isn’t a comfortable space, the CCNY athletics website has a number of resources that they could utilize to voice their concerns.
In any case, CCNY students make the most of the center during the week while keeping their eyes and ears open for confirmation of improvements. The center is located on the third floor of Wingate Hall; open 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. from Monday to Thursday and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Fridays.
Editor's Note: Nafissatou Yattassaye's interview for this article took place before she joined The Paper.
Alyssa Beaumont is a freshman at The City College of New York, majoring in Communications with a concentration in Journalism. She joined The Paper to hone her writing skills and gain experience in the world of journalism. She is a novice movie buff that loves expressing herself creatively.