SGA Senate passes bill promoting exclusively female workout space in TRECS facility

action could potentially get the ball rolling for other schools in the conference to make the same adjustments.

On March 21, the Student Government Association’s First-Year Leadership Council presented its “Female Specific Workout Space” bill for the first time at the Undergraduate Student Senate meeting held at the Student Union. It was immediately voted on and passed in the single session.

The bill proposes exactly what it sounds like: a designated space at UT’s TRECS facility exclusively for female-identifying students to workout in. FYLC members Nicolette Abate, Jackson Ford, Kiley Shumpert, Caroline Choate and Gracie Steely opened their presentation by providing definitions of the words “female” and “workout space.”

In context of the bill, “female” refers to individuals who identify or express themselves as female, whereas “workout space” is considered an area that provides the same equipment and machine availability as seen in the general workout space in the TRECS. The goal of this change is not to require women to use the space, but to provide a more empowering and comfortable workout space for femaleidentifying individuals.

The need for the bill stems from concerns from female-identifying students about the atmosphere of TRECS. FYLC conducted a survey asking for thoughts and feedback regarding experiences had at the on-campus recreation center, with many replies mentioning that the space is “judgmental” and they would rather workout at nearby facilities like Club 4 or Planet Fitness due to the fact that those establishments do offer a women’s only section.

“This isn’t just like my friends not wanting to go to the gym, this is like people I barely even know telling me that it’s an issue, so I was like ‘oh maybe this is something that everyone wants,’” Shumpert said.

The bill is now passed to administration for review. If it becomes a reality, UT would be the first school in the SEC to have a space available for strictly female gym attendees. In turn, this

“In writing legislation in FYLC, they told us that one of the biggest things, one of the easiest ways to get things passed, was if it could put UT ahead of other SEC schools. Everyone is looking at the competition. They do have a tendency to follow each other’s leads,” Shumpert said.

The bottom floor of the TRECS experienced some flooding over winter break, with classrooms and equipment being damaged, and the bill proposes renovating these impaired rooms for the female-only space. Based on the survey that the group conducted, it’s clear that the overwhelming majority of people utilizing those spaces prior to the damages were female.

“We were thinking, like, they’ve already shown that the gym can function without those so why not go ahead and use them. And also, 96% of the people that use the rooms for classes and stuff are female already. We’re not really taking that away from them,” Abate said.

While the bill focuses on enhancing women’s experience at the TRECS, the newly added space would also clear congestion found on the main floor of the gym and allow a more enjoyable experience for all TRECS visitors.