Skyline College should open its exercise facilities for all students to use.

Student-athletes should maintain their priority over these spaces, but why not give other students access when they are not in use?

For example, the basketball gym here on campus finds itself vacant at various points throughout the week. Utilizing it as an open gym during these hours would be extremely beneficial for students to stay active.

An open door approach to the exercise facilities would encourage more of the Skyline community to commit to their own health and the campus.

Throughout the school week, students often have several obligations to fulfill, making some days more difficult to attend to their physical fitness. Implementing these policies can prompt students to meet up with their peers on campus to get in their daily exercise.

Opening all of the exercise facilities would also form a better sense of community on campus. Having a place where students can collectively do something healthy that they enjoy can serve as a crucial hub for classmates to connect. Not all people are extroverts, so opening exercise facilities up to the student body would provide a safe place for them to naturally network.

Establishing open gym hours can help Skyline students with long commutes. With soaring gas prices, dragging yourself from place to place can be costly to a vast majority of community college undergraduates. Providing students access to facilities saves them another trip, especially since they spend time on campus for classes anyway.

The most significant motive for allowing students to have access to these spaces is for their overall health. According to the CDC, it’s been proven that engaging in physical activity can improve cognitive health, strengthen muscles, help control weight, manage stress, and reduce the risk of disease for students in the future.

Keeping people active is critical, and providing them with spaces that will inevitably make them healthier, more productive people should be an obvious choice for Skyline.

Some may argue that the current policies are in place to support student-athletes and their journeys to continue to play sports when they transfer; however, when these facilities are not in use by them, there should be no problem with allowing other people to make use of facilities.

The benefits for the student body evidently outweigh the current restrictive policies. Additionally, an official schedule for Skyline team practices as well as open hours for each facility should be published monthly.

Priority must still remain with the Skyline sports teams who use these spaces regularly, but when they are not in use, others should have the option to lift some weights, shoot some baskets, or take advantage of the healthy activities these facilities have to offer.