With every new semester, students are given the opportunity to request a refund on a portion of their e-Bill.
One refund not often taken advantage of is the Racquet & Fitness Center. Only 165 students have received the refund this semester. The reason may have to do with the wide variety of amenities available to the Center’s members, including the students who paid the $16 fee.
“Last semester I was at the Racquet &Fitness Center at least five times a week, and I’m still there a lot this semester,” said Ferris human resource management freshman Emma Gauthier. “I plan on being at the Racquet Center a lot in the future.”
Gauthier isn’t alone in that prediction. According to the Racquet & Fitness Center employee Jing Nestle, many students use the Center for the weight room, aerobics room and fitness room. The Center is also the only local fitness facility with racquetball rooms and a sauna in every locker room.
Students who pay the fee can also attend free yoga classes three days a week and receive discounted rates on fitness classes. There are also personal trainers and the U FIT program, which can help students reach their fitness goals. The Center’s recent renovations have allowed them to expand and add in new matches, in addition to a turf floor in the aerobic room.
“We also offer pickleball classes, tennis classes, tennis leagues, and plan to host tennis and pickleball tournaments,” said Nestle.
In addition to the Center’s extra classes, there is a classroom for the Professional Tennis Management program, which has around 35 students who attend regularly, and the tennis team has logged around 2,000 hours on the court each year. If the Student Recreation Center is unavailable, the Racquet & Fitness Center can step in and provide room, which happened three times last semester.
Not everyone uses their memberships, but many chose to continue paying rather than request a refund, keeping all the refundable fees in case they want to use any of the offered resources. For others, it’s just not in the budget.