The latest annual University Resources Committee report recommended a new membership fee for faculty and staff who use University athletic facilities. The fee, which has not yet been officially approved, would contribute to the cost of the new aquatic and fitness center slated to open this semester, said Michael Goldberger, director of athletics.
The committee recommended a contribution of $360 per year — or $30 per month — for faculty and staff members who opt for a membership. Provost Mark Schlissel P'15 said asking users who benefit from a service to contribute to its cost "is a reasonable thing," adding that students have an athletics fee included in their tuition. Individual community members currently pay $550 per year for gym membership, and faculty and staff who wish to use the fitness centers during the summer must pay $85.
Every Ivy League university charges faculty and staff to use its athletic facilities, Goldberger said.
Ricardo Smith, network manager at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, said he opposes the proposed fee. After reading about the plan in the committee's report, he immediately started to rally his colleagues to petition it and received overwhelming support, he said.
Gyms in Smith's neighborhood charge about $10 per month for membership, meaning $120 per year, he said. "We know what the market value is — (Brown's fee) is way above the market value. That is just greedy," he said.
"I don't mind giving back for all the years that it was accessible for free," said Michael Houllahan, morphology technician for gross anatomy in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology. But he said the steep rate might be prohibitive for some employees.
Calling the ability to work out for free "one of the few bragging rights you get" as a University employee, Smith said the elimination of one of his "consolation prizes" means he has little incentive to work at Brown over any other employer. "What's my upside?" he asked.
"Free access to its gym is something a university can and usually should offer to its community," wrote Marc Redfield, professor of English and comparative literature, in an email to The Herald.
Both Smith and Redfield said the quality of University gyms currently does not merit the proposed fee. Redfield, who joined a private gym after using the University's facilities for his first few months at Brown, said it would make sense to charge tenured faculty and senior staff to use the gym if it "were competitive with private gyms in the area."
"You're not giving backrubs and therapy sessions," Smith said. "What are you giving me?"
Houllahan said working out can help staff and faculty "manage any psychological hurdles" they face, and Smith wrote in an email that exercising boosts his personal health and happiness, which in turn benefits the Brown community.
Smith stressed that he would join another gym before paying the committee's recommended rate. While Houllahan said the University neglected staff by not making the issue open for discussion, he added that the facilities are "such an important place to so many."
