ETSU’s Center for Physical Activity is readying for its third anniversary celebration, and you’re invited to put on your walking shoes and participate.
April 17 will mark three years of operation for the facility, and the week of April 17-23 will be celebrated with “Walk Today.” All ETSU faculty and staff are invited to the CPA to walk for at least 30 minutes.
Participants are encouraged to join their friends and colleagues for at least three walks during the weeklong celebration. Designed to provide a great way for participants to improve health – and get a chance to win a free T-shirt!
“Walk Today” is a new event for the CPA, and this is the first time it has coordinated special activities for an anniversary.
At a time when student participation is slowing down because of upcoming final exams, the anniversary celebration is a great time to promote employee fitness and participation in the CPA.
“Walking is one of the simplest forms of exercise, and hopefully can introduce people to more forms of physical activity,” said Jon Walker, director of campus recreation.
The CPA includes basketball, soccer and volleyball courts, a climbing wall, a group exercise and martial arts studio, a pool, racquetball and squash courts. The center also boasts a 15,000-square-foot weight room with cardiovascular stations, free weights and weight machines.
The CPA has something to offer for everyone, Walker said, and the staff is always thinking of new ways to get people involved in its programs and activities.
New programs at the CPA this summer include scuba certification and Shao-lin karate classes. These non-credit instruction classes provide ETSU students the opportunity to learn new physical activities and recreational sports from qualified instructors.
The CPA has offered other classes such as kayaking, rock-climbing and swimming lessons.
The CPA can also be utilized for educational purposes, as it hosts leadership and team-building seminars for academic departments and student groups.
A Saturday morning family program is held weekly from 10 a.m. to noon during which family of ETSU students, faculty and staff can use the facility free of charge. Spouses and dependents of students, faculty and staff are also able to purchase CPA memberships.
According to Walker, the facility serves between 1,500 and 1,800 people each day – a favorable number for the facility.
“We have a broad range of students from many different backgrounds utilizing the facility,” Walker said. “However, we would like to encourage more part-time students to get involved with the center.”
Students only have to be enrolled in one class to take part in activities at the CPA.
“We are currently working to get more of the ETSU faculty and staff participating at the CPA, and events such as ‘Walk Today’ help us take steps toward that goal,” Walker said. “Healthy employees are better employees, and the faculty/student interaction is beneficial to the educational experience.”
Walker said that when the CPA opened, faculty participation levels almost immediately doubled that of Brooks Gym.
Now at a 20 percent level of faculty participation, the CPA hopes to see 40 percent of faculty utilizing the facility in the near future.
The 100,000-square-foot facility was opened in 2002. Built and operated by student fees, the $14 million CPA is managed by the Department of Campus Recreation in the Division of Student Affairs.
For more information about the Center for Physical Activity, visit the web site at www.etsu.edu/students/intramur or call 439-7980.

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