The Loyola Maryland Fitness and Aquatic Center is home to many club sports, teams, and avid gym goers. The FAC has often been a space that is heavily dominated by men, but members of Loyola’s campus are seeking to change that. On November 10th, the FAC hosted “Ladies’ Night” in partnership with the Student Government and the Loyola Women’s Center.
Ladies’ Night began at 9:30 p.m. and went on until 11:30 p.m. Many young women eagerly waited in line until the doors opened. Some came for the raffles and free samples, while others came to enjoy the free workout classes such as yoga, spin, and self-defense.
The atmosphere was full of excitement as women from different class years entered the building to attend the various classes. Some offerings from the night included: Group X Classes (like yoga and spin), Barbell Club demonstrations, self-defense, rock wall climbing, massage tables, paddle board, raffles, free juice samples, swag bags, and T-Shirts.
Bailey Skeeter ’23 is the executive director of student well-being for the Student Government Association and was a part of the planning for the event. Skeeter was extremely impressed by the night’s turnout.
Skeeter said, “I was really blown away by it if I’m being honest, the turnout is nothing like I expected.”
There has been a noticeable decrease in women’s attendance at the FAC. Skeeter, like many other women, was excited to see so many women waiting to enter the building.
Skeeter said, “It’s super exciting to see this many people interested in coming to the FAC, especially being a woman myself, I can see where the FAC can be intimidating during the day when it’s mainly full of men working out and lifting weights. It can be intimidating.”
The night was full of many giveaways and offerings, one of them being a small business that offered product tastings. Skylar Cho ’23 is the director of community outreach for the Student Government Association as well as an intern for CCSJ and the York Road initiative. Cho made it a goal to bring a small business to this Loyola event.
Cho said, “I’ve worked with small business owners because of my involvement with the Govans Farmers Market and so when they were talking about possibly having smoothies from an outside chain vendor I was like, ‘Hold on, let’s actually like support a local business.”
The juice samples were the center of attention at the event. “Gingers Fresh Juice” is a small business within the Baltimore area. Cho found it imperative to bring a local small business to the event.
Cho said, “Tanellel who owns ‘Gingers Fresh Juice’ comes to the Govans Farmers Market. She makes fresh juices every season, every day, and they’re delicious so I was like ‘what a great way to utilize small businesses and bring in a little piece of Baltimore to Loyola.”
The FAC is open 6:00 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 6:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and Sunday 1:00 p.m.-11:30 p.m.
On Instagram, follow @gingersfreshjuice to order juice, @womenscenterloyola for more resources, and @loyolarecwell for more about Loyola’s Fitness and Aquatic Center.
Featured Image courtesy of Genevieve Green.
