Sound Body, Sound Mind

Today's students have high expectations when it comes to health and wellness. The new Bobby Valentine Health & Recreation Center is just one way SHU is rising to that challenge.

“Show me your recreation and fitness center ...”

It’s a common request on campus tours nationwide. Students are asking about rec programs and what they offer, says Kevin Herrick, AIA, the higher-ed practice leader and a principal at The S/L/A/M Collaborative that designed Sacred Heart’s new Bobby Valentine Health & Recreation Center. “It’s not just about physical fitness either,” he notes, “but about whether they can get on an intramural team or meet people outside their major.”

The investment in facilities that address the non-academic side of campus life is a longtime trend for colleges, driven in part by a focus on the well-being of the whole student, notes Athletic Business magazine in a 2015 survey of what students want from campus recreation facility space. A 2018 article in the same publication observes that campus rec centers are evolving to offer a broad array of fitness needs, rather than just those of athletes and exercise enthusiasts.

Healthy Campus 2020, an American College Health Association initiative inspired by the nationwide Healthy People 2020 objectives, is another indication of higher education’s focus on student health and wellness. The effort challenges colleges to create social and physical environments that promote good health through collaboration between offices managing health care, academics and student affairs, as well as top administration.

At Sacred Heart, the focus on helping students lead healthy lifestyles has been evident in its academic programs for health professionals, its food service choices and its fitness centers within residence halls, such as the CrossFit facility at Bergoglio Hall. As Channing C. Vidal, director of student conduct and head coach at that facility, puts it, “Health plays into our Catholic mission to develop the best overall humans that we can.”

“For decades, we have made a commitment to health,” says James M. Barquinero, senior vice president for enrollment, student affairs and athletics. “It’s not a fad for us. It’s part of our value set. And it resonates nicely ... with parents and their sons or daughters who are visiting institutions as part of their search process. [They are] impressed with this commitment to recreation and staying fit.

”That encompasses both physical and mental health as well as a large selection of Division I athletic programs, club sports, intramurals and recreation sports.

Now, the addition of the $21.8 million Bobby Valentine Health & Recreation Center to campus this summer takes the support of healthy lifestyles to a new level.

Healthy History

Bergoglio Hall’s CrossFit gym and the Center for Healthcare Education’s Balance Kitchen dining facility are two strong examples of how Sacred Heart promotes student health and wellness.

“As far as I know, we’re the only college in the Northeast that has an official CrossFit affiliate on campus,” says Vidal. Over 200 sophomore and freshman students reside at the hall, but any student with an interest in being healthier can use the facility.

Vidal gets a lot of questions from incoming students at open houses. “They’ll email me, wanting to know more about CrossFit,” he says.

Meanwhile, every campus dining facility offers healthy meal options. Yet Balance Kitchen, at the new Center for Healthcare Education, is unique. The state-of-the-art open kitchen venue goes “all in” on promoting a healthy and sustainable lifestyle through better food choices, education, information, technology and incentives.

“It’s really cool to see that,” says Vidal, adding that since CrossFit is very metabolically demanding, he’s a health food nut.

And, of course, Balance Kitchen’s offerings match the interests of most students pursuing careers in fields such as exercise science and public health or who dream of becoming physician assistants, nurses, athletic trainers or physical therapists.

Healthy Future

The new Health & Recreation Center is sure to become the place for students to see and be seen this fall and beyond.

“It’s transparent, visible—no more going down into the basement for weight rooms. Floor-to-ceiling windows look out to the football field or the softball field or a beautiful forested area,” says Herrick. “And as you walk in, you’re greeted by this great volume of space that is floor-to-ceiling glass.”

The entry’s 40-foot climbing wall serves as a landmark that makes the building unmistakable from across campus. Look up and there’s the fitness area and running track weaving through it. “You’ll see all kinds of activity above,” Herrick says, adding that the second and third levels are dedicated to all sorts of recreation. The rec gym, for example, can accommodate basketball, indoor soccer and floor hockey. The third floor houses a juice bar.

The lower level, with a separate entrance, is geared toward athletes and their training. Besides coach offices, athletic team rooms and an athlete laundry facility, it features offices and training areas for club sports.

Then there’s a golf simulation area that can be used by anyone during off-season or by the golf team during inclement weather. “It’s blurring that line—serving double duty between athletics and recreation,” notes Herrick.

In a similar vein, the bowling center, complete with LED widescreen monitors, is for both the women’s Division I bowling team’s competitions and for the general student body’s evening entertainment. “At the flip of a switch, it turns to school colors and becomes a competitive environment,” says Herrick.

Overall, the Bobby Valentine Health & Recreation Center celebrates the importance of physical fitness as a part of the whole person, and certainly offers that WOW factor for visitors—whether they are guests of the president looking out of the end zone on game day or prospective students and families as they tour campus. Most importantly, however, Herrick expects it will house “a tremendous amount of vibrancy” for SHU students.

One might even say that it will be the students who give the building its Heart.