In an age when being healthy is considered cool, Binghamton University is sitting at the loser table of the college community. Its fitness center sticks out like a rolly backpack in a high school hallway. Not only is it inefficient (think about the freshman struggling to pull it up the crowded stairs), but it’s also downright embarrassing.

I’ll hand it to BU for having some killer wellness and fitness classes, like Nutrition and Intro to African Dance (yes, it’s really a class.) I’ll even go so far as to say the dining halls are OK. The fruit may be overripe, the salad limp and the whole wheat pasta only available upon *request*, but at least they try, right? However, for a college that claims to be “dedicated to encouraging active and healthy lifestyles,” the campus gym remains a disappointment.

It costs students $120 for a one-year membership to FitSpace, our on-campus fitness center. It costs $65 for a one-semester membership. These prices may seem like a deal compared to other gyms in the area, but FitSpace doesn’t match up to other gyms. I think most (those who fork up the cash) can agree it’s cramped and crowded, and machines are limited. The single group exercise room is so small and awkwardly shaped that I often find myself in yoga class with a pair of smelly feet 2 inches from my vulnerable nostrils.

Some of you may be thinking to yourselves, “Well, that’s normal for a public college campus. What do you expect?” But as a transfer student from SUNY New Paltz (you know, the stoner hippy school) BU’s mediocre gym came as a shock. BU’s FitSpace is not even half the size of New Paltz’s gym, and BU has almost double the amount of undergrads. I’m cautious to use the word beautiful to describe a gym without sounding like a muscle milk-obsessed beef cake, but New Paltz’s gym really is breathtaking. Picture this: glass doors, up-to-date equipment, multiple wide open fitness rooms, big windows, etc. But the best thing of all — it is free for students.

Turns out, a good amount of SUNY schools have granted their students gym memberships. That’s right; University at Buffalo, Geneseo, Albany, New Paltz, Oneonta, Cortland and Brockport all have memberships included in tuition (Stony Brook is sitting next to us at the loser table.) So why is the Premier Public University of the Northeast falling behind all these other SUNY schools in its fitness program?

BU undergrads are required to pay for “athletic facilities” in our tuition, but it doesn’t include a FitSpace membership. There is the Recreation Fee of $38.50, which goes toward Binghamton Outdoor Pursuits, and club sports. There is also the Intercollegiate Athletic Fee ($220) which for the most part seems to go toward Division 1 teams. So, your $220 is going toward Bearcat basketball jerseys, not toward you getting on a treadmill, fatty.

Is it possible that some of this money could be re-directed to cover student gym memberships? I’m really not sure of the technicalities here, but it seems reasonable. And even if gym memberships would cost a little extra on one’s tuition bill, wouldn’t students feel more obligated to work out if they knew they were paying for it anyway? Wouldn’t this make for a healthier, active campus if fitness was all-inclusive, rather than limited to those willing to pay the bill?

If health and wellness really is a concern of Binghamton University, I believe they should reconsider their gym membership policy for undergraduates on campus. Transferring to BU has done wonders for my academic life, but as for health and wellness … well, I’m not impressed.

Supposedly there is a “free” workout room (closet?) in room G53 of the East Gym, but this isn’t going to cut it. If FitSpace is as embarrassing as a rolly backpack, this place would be the equivalent of shitting one’s pants in gym class: social suicide. If BU wants to keep its high standing among the other SUNY campuses, it better bulk up its fitness program.