Stepping Up: The Department of Recreation Services
While the Power Center is physically closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the recreation staff has been working hard to engage with students, staff and faculty through virtual workouts, free personal training sessions, helpful links to recipes and more.
The Department of Recreation Services, which is housed in the Center for Student Wellbeing, is a team of just four administrators consisting of Dan McCarthy, Amber Lasure, Tim Fung and Patty Wolbert.
“We’re a small department so everything is really a team effort,” McCarthy said. “Everything we do is to promote the wellbeing of our students and community.”
Lasure, assistant director of wellness and fitness, has been regularly updating the Power Center’s Facebook page with posts on instructor-led group fitness virtual workouts, links to helpful resources for managing stress and anxiety, and recipe ideas. Lasure also leads a weekly Zoom yoga class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the campus community.
As coordinator of intramurals, Fung has implemented a step counting competition for the campus intramural leagues. He also has organized trivia and video-game competitions to help students stay involved and entertained.
McCarthy said that each person on the recreation services team has stepped up in different ways to ensure a seamless transition to working from home.
“I’m grateful to our team in recreation services and in the Center for Student Wellbeing for working tirelessly to promote the wellbeing of our students now and moving forward,” said McCarthy.
When students, staff and faculty are able to safely return to campus, McCarthy said operations at the Power Center will likely look different.
“We have to prepared for the new normal—whatever that looks like,” McCarthy said. “That may mean social distancing in our exercise classes and weight rooms, students and staff wearing masks and new cleaning measures. Whatever that will look like, our team is dedicated to providing a clean and safe environment for the Duquesne community.”
Join us in thanking the recreation services team for their commitment to promoting wellbeing among our campus community!
Stepping Up
We’re recognizing individual Duquesne employees who are going above and beyond in their job duties (beyond transitioning to online services) to serve our students, our campus and local community during these uncertain times. To submit an individual for nomination, email Emily Stock at stocke@duq.edu.