The University of Idaho Argonaut

Cal Lathen wasn’t afraid to dream big.
Lathen, the former director of Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance and Campus Recreation, envisioned a place dedicated solely for students’ use and enjoyment. Today that dream is a reality in the form of the Student Recreation Center that as many as 2,400 students use daily.

He first put his dream into words one night while sitting around a campfire on a rafting trip for the Division of Student Affairs in 1992, Mike Beiser said. However, students who attended a student leadership retreat in 1994 get the credit for the idea.
Beiser hasn’t forgotten the night Lathen first spoke of the idea that would become an $18 million building and a campus landmark.

“I thought Cal had rocks in his head, I thought he was dreaming too big,” Beiser said, UI’s outdoor program coordinator who not only attended the rafting trip but also works in the building today.
Lathen’s original dream might have been too big — plans originally called for a 207,000 square foot building compared to the 90,000 square feet that was built — but he was determined to see it carried though, even putting off his retirement for three years. Now both the students and the university enjoy the benefits of his vision.

“It was wonderful seeing it completed and knowing students would use it for decades,” Lathen said of the SRC. “It’s the crowning jewel of my 37-year career at the University of Idaho. I still get excited when I drive by and see it today.”
Prior to the opening of the Student Recreation Center on campus, students had last priority to limited equipment when it came to open recreationat UI.

There was a small weight room in the basement of Memorial Gym that had poor ventilation and another one in the Kibbie Dome that was only available for a few hours a day as athletics and academic classes had priority over students’ open use of the facilities.
The opening of the Student Recreation Center changed that for UI students. Students now have their own place for open recreation, a term preferred over ‘working out’ at the SRC.
Lathen’s idea was similar to many around the country. An estimated 400 indoor and 318 outdoor recreational facilities will be built or renovated for an estimated $4.9 billion in the next five years, according to the 2002 Kerr & Downs Research Report –

Buying Power of Participants of Recreational Sports on College Campuses.
Since the opening of the SRC, a dozen schools have visited the building for ideas for their own building, Beiser said.
The benefits of having a place for student use are not exclusive to the UI and explain why campuses around the nation are building or expanding their facilities.

At Rutgers, the state University of New Jersey, school officials feel their six recreation centers give students a sense of community.
“Intramurals and club sports become a way to become part of a group in a large (30,000 student) school,” said Diane Bonanno, associate dean of recreational services.
Rutgers recreation assets include 42 sport clubs, a climbing wall, an indoor and outdoor pool and additional outdoor property dedicated to recreational use.
Student recreation centers give some schools an advantage when it comes to recruiting new students, Tatham said.

“Every potential student and parent that tours the campus comes though the SRC,” Tatham said.
Beiser sees the SRC as a way to keep pace with the competition.
“All of our peer universities have nice facilities, we need them too, in order to compete in the college market,” Beiser said.
Even schools that don’t need recreational facilities to recruit new students still appreciate the value the facilities add to their campus.

“We’re the University of Notre Dame, we don’t need a recreation facility to recruit students,” said Kara O’Leary, assistant director for recreational facilities and director of sports camps for Notre Dame.
Seventy-five percent of ND’s students earned varsity letters and are very active. Ninety-one percent of students used a recreational facility at least once last year, O’Leary said.

Notre Dame’s facilities include two golf courses, a beach where watercrafts can be rented from, an aquatic center, indoor track and field center, an ice skating rink and a tennis center, and two recreational centers, as well as many outdoor facilities — including allowing students to ski on their golf course whenever there is snow.
The biggest advantage the SRC offers UI is students not only have their own facilities with more convenient hours, but a building that houses most campus recreation opportunities.

The UI SRC is also home to the Outdoor Recreation Program, the Outdoor Rental Program, the largest climbing wall in any university in the country, and the Intramural Sports office.
Though the building was not completed in its entirety due to budget issues, the center cost $18 million to build with the majority of funds coming from students.

“Students have decided to use student fees to pay for faculties to have access to top-notch equipment on their own time,” said Greg Tatham, director of UI Campus Recreation.
Besier thinks this contributes to students’ overall health.
“I guarantee UI students are healthier today than they were before the SRC opened up,” Beiser said.
Tatham agreed with him.

“Students that use the SRC are less stressed and stay healthier,” Tatham said. “Healthier students attend more class.”
They seem to perform better in the classroom according to a survey the SRC conducted during the 2004-05 academic school year. UI students that use the SRC at least 10 times have an average of GPA of 3.08, students that used it at least once had an average GPA of 2.97. Students who never attended the SRC had a GPA of 2.88 the study showed.

“The mind and body are one, neglect one and the other will surely suffer,” Beiser said, quoting Thomas Jefferson.
“Studies have shown that college is an influenceable time in the development of 18-24 year olds,” Beiser said. “If students develop healthy habits now, they are more likely to stay with them though life.”

Beiser and Tatham agreed that there is more to college than just the classroom and that the SRC provides opportunities for students to learn and interact outside the classroom.
“There’s so much more to college than just going to class, and facilities like this allow students to see the University of Idaho is more than just a place to go to class,” Tatham said.