Earlier in the day, students in wellness/fitness classes had made their circuits of Hammer Strength, Cybex and Nautilus equipment and a growing array of ergometers, stepping machines and stationary bikes. More than 50 students show up for an aerobics session in the Alumni Gym at 4:30 p.m. Indoor varsity practices and intramural games jockey for space until 10 p.m. when the last intramural basketball game tips off.
This is the intersection of individual, intramural, club and varsity athletics at Susquehanna. To many students, it is as much a part of the campus athletic scene as playing or watching a Saturday afternoon football game, hearing the crack of a hockey stick outside a Smith Hall window, or feeling the splash of water as a sculling oar dips into the Susquehanna River.
It also is just one sign of the dramatic changes in college sports and recreation over the past two decades. At Susquehanna, the result has been a surge in recreational/intramural and wellness/fitness programs, expanding interest in less traditional sports -- from men's lacrosse to women's rugby -- and continued growth in women's varsity athletics.
Long-Term Success at Life
Women's Lacrosse Coach Gina Lucido, right, instructs Cindy Rostiac '98 in a Core curriculum wellness/fitness class. |
"What we're after is long-term success in life. We make a contribution by giving students a framework in which to express themselves and participate at their own level," says Director of Athletics Don Harnum.
The statement reflects a holistic view of athletics as an important component of the total college experience at Susquehanna. Healthy varsity and intramural programs often provide a focal point for school spirit, even for non-athletes, points out Connie Harnum, assistant director of athletics, field hockey coach and coordinator of the University's wellness/fitness course. "A Division III setting tends to give students a strong sense of community which is very critical to the health and atmosphere of a small university."
A Campus-Wide Need
Susquehanna's last expansion of athletics facilities was in 1976. To meet the increasing interests in fitness and demand for adequate and up-to-date space, the University has developed plans for new sports and recreation facilities and renovation of the existing Houts/Alumni Gymnasium complex. The plans under consideration would require relocation of the football and baseball fields to make room for a new field house adjacent to the existing complex. A campus-wide needs assessment identified the project as a priority in the University's Susquehanna 2000: The Next Challenge capital campaign. When fully completed, it will offer the entire campus community access to athletic facilities for a variety of recreational sports, fitness activities, and team practices.
The completed gymnasium complex will also enhance significantly the University's ability to attract well-qualified students. A record 67 percent of the incoming class were varsity athletes in high school. Those who continue with varsity sports in college often pursue other athletic opportunities off-season to stay in shape, points out Associate Professor of Psychology and Head Swimming Coach Ged Schweikert. Even those who choose not to participate at the varsity level in college often bring an interest in lifelong fitness programs or recreational athletics, he adds. "A university or a college is not simply a classroom, it's everything that happens to them nine months out of the year."
Steady improvements in Susquehanna's academic profile have also changed the arena in which the University competes for students. "It's much more competitive to recruit than it was 10 or 15 years ago," says Jim Taylor, who is entering his 20th year as head men's track coach and also serves as a special coordinator for business admissions. "We've put ourselves in a position of competing against much better-known schools." He notes that six of Susquehanna's top eight competitor schools have constructed field houses in the past decade.
A Wellness/Fitness Requirement
The last two decades have also seen a growing recognition of the value of lifetime fitness. The University revamped its Core curriculum physical education requirement to a wellness/fitness component in 1994. Because varsity athletes can now fulfill the graduation requirement with their team experience, the fitness course is designed for non-athletes.
Varsity cross-country. |
"Students who are non-athletic, including many who don't typically work out, are coming to courses getting their body fat tested and their cardiovascular fitness measured," says Don Harnum. "They are being put through a seven-week, three-times-a-week program and being able to measure their progress. The student evaluations from this new course are highly positive. They have shown us the tremendous opportunity for a fitness-wellness element and a real appetite for much more."
Intramural programs at the University have doubled in the past 20 years and represent a potential for even more growth, says Harnum. Current programs include aerobic dance, basketball, flag football, floor hockey, softball, tennis and volleyball. The aim, he adds, is to provide diverse activities that can appeal to a wide variety of fitness styles. The University also sponsors additional off-campus activities through an outdoor recreation center where students can rent gear for activities ranging from backpacking to cross-country skiing.
Growth in Women's Opportunities
Twenty-three years ago, when Connie Harnum arrived at Susquehanna, the University offered only three varsity sports for women -- tennis, field hockey and basketball. Ten years ago there were seven, with the addition of softball, swimming, track and volleyball. Today, there are 11, the most recent additions being lacrosse, cross country, indoor track and soccer.
Women's rugby club. |
"There's been a tremendous growth from when I came," she says. "Today's female athletes really do take it every bit as seriously as the male athletes -- from staying in shape to taking a real ownership of the team."
The growing interest and opportunities are fed in part by Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in any educational institution receiving federal aid. To comply with the law, college and universities must pass at least one of three tests:
Most schools with football programs do not meet the proportionality test. But the University does show a pattern of growth in women's sports and has also worked to add activities to meet expressed needs. One example is the conversion in 1994 of a women's soccer club to a varsity program.
Susquehanna has also moved to meet the spirit of Title IX in supporting women's sports as fairly as men's sports in areas such as budgets and facilities. For example, the University recently added a new field, on land donated by Susquehanna alumni Simon B. '30 and Kathryn Jarrett '34 Rhoads, to help alleviate the strain on practice and playing venues for popular field sports. The current capital campaign includes a funding priority for a proposed renovation and expansion of the recreational sports complex to provide better facilities for women and men.
Division III: Opportunity and Freedom
Assistant Director of Athletics Connie Harnum brings 23 years of coaching experience to the field hockey team |
"Coaches here foster the idea that academics come first, and the athletes really like that," says Connie Harnum. "They are impressed that you look at them as a whole person, not just a body that's out there winning games for you."
"Division III offers the best of all worlds," says Men's Tennis Coach Gary Fincke, who is also a Susquehanna professor of English and director of the University Writers' Institute. "Students play because they want to and enjoy it. Coaches do it for the love of the sport."
Men's varsity football team. |
And in Fincke's experience, participation in varsity tennis tends to support academic performance. "Students tend to do better academically during the semester that they play tennis," he says. "It provides a sort of discipline, especially with practice from 4:15 to 6:00 p.m., a time of day when people are most likely to get distracted in a way that can keep the rest of the evening from being productive."
The Competitive Edge
Athletic experience can also offer students a competitive edge in graduate school and job markets. A Forbes magazine study, "Executive Sweat," reports that though only five percent of students nationwide participate in varsity athletics, nearly 50 percent of 1,700 top executives in 500 major U.S. companies had competed at the varsity level in college.
"Probably the two most important things students learn from being involved in a sport are commitment and teamwork," says Don Harnum. "It teaches some sense of selflessness. You can't be on a team and just do your own thing. You've got to fit into the big picture."
"I'm confident because of basketball. It's taught me dependability," says Peter Long '98, a history major and guard for the Crusader men's basketball team. "If you work hard at a sport, it rubs off in the classroom, and vice versa," says Long. "The best players are successful because they have a good work ethic."
"Crew is my favorite sport by far," says English major Heather Hamlin '97. "It pushed me to my ultimate limit. You get up at five o'clock in the morning and pile on layers of clothing. When you start on the river you can hardly distinguish the water from the land," she says. "At the races you have to expend this huge amount of energy, but in the end it's all worth it. Whether you come in first or last, you made it."
Camaraderie and Community
"If you asked me 10 or 15 years ago what I would most miss if I weren't coaching, I would have said the competition. If you ask me today, I would say the camaraderie of working closely with a group of players," says Gary Fincke. "The best thing about this for me, and one of the best things about Susquehanna for a coach and a faculty member, I think, is the opportunity to get to know students well on a personal level.
"It's not a situation where all I know about a tennis player is that he has a good forehand and weak backhand, or all I know about the student is that he's the one who doesn't know where to put the commas," says Fincke. "If I know something else about them beyond that, we can work on the commas and the backhand."
Such meaningful relationships among players, coaches and other students continue after graduation, stresses Connie Harnum. "I still hear from a lot of my former players and they stay in touch with each other. It really enhances their personal sense of well-being," she adds. "That's a richness that you just don't get in a larger school setting."