FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 30, 2007
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124

MUW’s premier education and recreation facility set to open Monday
  
COLUMBUS, Miss. – Mississippi University for Women’s premier education and recreation center, which boast approximately 87,000 square feet, will officially open its doors Monday morning.
   
The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Emma Ody Pohl Building and the Marie Charlotte Stark Recreation Center comes about four years after the Pohl Gym was destroyed by a tornado in the fall of 2002. The event is set for 3:30 p.m.
   
MUW President Claudia A. Limbert said, “These buildings are significant achievements for MUW, and the entire project was an unexpected challenge that we are proud to have faced and faced very well.”
   
The facility will allow MUW to provide recreational and wellness services the same as universities five times it size, according to Nora Miller, vice president for finance and administration, who said the cost of the building was $13.5 million.
   
Named after the two women, who were fundamental in the development of physical education at MUW, the two buildings have defined academic and recreational components.
   
The Pohl academic building will feature state-of-the-art classrooms and a premier human performance laboratory. Joined to the recreation center by an elevated bridge, the building also houses collegiate regulation courts and an elevated walking track made from recycled Nike tennis shoes.
   
The Stark Recreation Center features an indoor pool, racquetball/wallyball courts, cardio and weight equipment, a 5,000 square foot strength and conditioning room, a student gathering area with pool tables and 65-inch screen television, day-use and rental lockers. It also contains an auxiliary gym and meeting rooms.
   
Dr. Mark Bean, chair of the Department of Health and Kinesiology said, “Students in the Department of Health and Kinesiology will study and learn in a facility that is unmatched for a university of this size. Our Department has seen steady growth over the past five years. The new facility will help us continue to attract quality students and to provide an excellent education for them.”
   
Dr. Bucky Wesley, vice president for student services, said, “So much of what we offer at this university extends beyond the walls of the classroom, and much of what students can learn here can make them better students in the classroom.
   
“Research tells us that those students who spend one hour each day in a facility like this use their study time more effectively.”
   
Amy Swingle, Campus Recreation executive director, added that the facility will position MUW to compete more for students who see such facilities at bigger universities.
   
“It will also provide students with more opportunities than they have ever had in the past to learn and develop more healthy lifestyle habits.”
   
Haley Cochran, a senior physical therapy major in the Department of Health and Kinesiology from Olive Branch, said to see the facility opening is overwhelming.
   
Cochran, who has worked with Campus Recreation since she was a freshman, said, “I hope it encourages a passion for fitness. I’m also excited about the community aspect and think it will connect us more to the community.”
   
For more information about the Office of Campus Recreation, contact (662) 241-7494 or visit www.muw.edu/recreation.  To learn more about the programs in the Department of Health and Kinesiology, call (662) 329-7225 or visit the department website at http://www.muw.edu/hk/.