SRC helps improve Rider’s image

Image has a lot to do with the college process. Why else would we spend thousands of dollars on slick new computers, some with LCD screens, for our computer labs when their only purposes are web browsing and Word documents? It’s so that the administration looks good for prospective students and parents. “The latest technology for tomorrow’s leaders,” or something like that, is probably the usual pitch. The computer money could have easily gone for something functional, like new shower curtains.

It’s nice to see money spent on something truly useful to Rider’s current students. Construction is an exciting prospect, but it’s doubly so when the construction truly benefits everyone. The admissions people get a great new building to show potential students, current students get a place to work out and an impressive image is projected to visiting high-schoolers.

One part of Rider’s image that’s improving with the Student Recreation Center (SRC) is aesthetic appearance. If you had pulled into Rider’s main entrance three years ago, you would have seen old brick facades on either side. As we’ve all heard, first impressions are everything. Regardless of what’s behind those bricks, regardless of the camaraderie or school spirit in Hill Hall or Alumni Gym, prospective students already have one negative on the scoreboard in their heads. Putting a friendly-looking recreation center smack in the front of Rider’s layout is a statement: “We care about the student.”

The beauty of this image-editing lies in its tangible benefits for current students. We get a new gym, an indoor jogging track, three multipurpose fields and a nice-looking place to pass by on the way to and from Daly’s. We get a heated, lit place to play pick-up games with friends, to meet new people and to feel better about ourselves.

The old gym, the Maurer Fitness Center, is a perfectly functional one. We have a pool, treadmills and a weight room. I’ve been there many times myself, and I’d never had any complaints. Yet its admittedly less-than-inviting visual atmosphere leaves much to be desired. Not only is it unattractive, but it’s a good 10-minute walk if you’re not a Greek or a Poyda resident. It’s almost as if they forgot to put a gym anywhere when designing this campus; the location makes it feel like an afterthought.

Having lived here during last year’s construction, I can certainly say that our rewards are well worth the wait. It’s my fervent hope that many students take this opportunity to improve themselves and meet new people in a fresh, new, and absolutely beautiful setting.

— JP Krahel