Baylor Named One of 'America's Fittest Colleges' By Men's Fitness Magazine

by Lori Fogleman, director of media relations, (254) 710-6275

Men's Fitness Magazine today released its list of the Top 25 Fittest Colleges in America in 2006, and Baylor University is in great shape at No. 9 in the annual survey.

Men's Fitness consulted with The Princeton Review for the second year in a row to discover which colleges and universities are winning the war against the nation's ever-expanding collective gut. The magazine surveyed nearly 12,500 students from the country's top institutions to determine its list of the 25 Fittest Colleges.

Men's Fitness graded Baylor, based on the student surveys, with an:
? A- for Intake (limited intake of fast food, cigarettes, alcohol)
? B- for Behavior (amount of physical activity each week, amount of less structured exercise, amount of time spent doing sedentary activities with the exception of studying, how many hours of sleep per night)
? A- for School Offerings (fresh fruit, nutritionist, extended gym hours)
? A for Campus Culture of Fitness (Does your school have a physical fitness requirement for non-varsity athlete undergraduates? Do you feel as though the campus community in general promotes vigorous physical activity? How fit do you think your campus is?)

One of the intents of the Men's Fitness survey is to showcase the colleges and universities that have found the way to balance academic excellence with athletic acumen throughout the whole student body. Baylor and TCU were the only Texas schools in the Top 25. The top university was Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Kim Scott, director of campus recreation at Baylor, said the university is committed to the total development of today's Baylor student. Baylor Campus Recreation offers comprehensive, quality programs and services that enhance healthy lifestyles founded on the principles of integrity, sportsmanship and Christian values.

"So many things can be related back to the physical development and so many people focus only on the physical. ...we are concerned with the holistic lifestyle patterns of students both while they are here and long after they leave the university," Scott said.

Scott said when Baylor built the 156,000-square-foot McLane Student Life Center in 1998, she and her staff spent hours researching top-of-the-line equipment to purchase for the student body.

"We wanted to make a statement that our students deserve the best there is - not just varsity athletes - so we did just that," Scott said of the SLC's Fitness Center, which includes 10,000-square-feet worth of free and selectorized weight stations and cardiovascular areas.

"Programmatically, we offer aerobic and cardiovascular training, fitness assessments and orientations, nutrition education and assessments, personal training and massage therapy," Scott said. "We are committed to helping our students develop holistic lifestyles and a desire to live a long and healthy life."

The McLane SLC at Baylor also includes:
? "The Rock," a 52-foot free-standing climbing structure
? Leisure Pool
? Outdoor sand volleyball and basketball courts
? Gymnasium with four courts for basketball/volleyball
? Racquetball/Squash courts
? Indoor Jogging Track
? SLC Fields for club soccer, rugby, intramural football
? Outdoor jogging trail: 2/3 mile, with memorial light poles
? 2,400-square-foot Aerobics Room

The SLC also contains The Commons with tables and seating for 40, along with two Mitsubishi 44" wide-screen TVs, and Baylor Health Services, including an outpatient clinic, pharmacy, counseling center and physical therapy.

The nation's 25 fittest colleges, according to Men's Fitness magazine:

1. Dickinson College (Pa.)
2. Colgate University (N.Y.)
3. Boston College
4. Wheaton College (Ill.)
5. University of Vermont
6. Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.)
7. Grove City College (Pa.)
8. Texas Christian University
9. Baylor University (Texas)
10. University of Richmond (Va.)
11. University of Virginia
12. University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse
13. University of California-Santa Cruz
14. Washington & Jefferson College (Pa.)
15. Albertston College of Idaho
16. Santa Clara University (Calif.)
17. Lafayette College (Pa.)
18. Georgetown University
19. Roanoke College (Va.)
20. California Institute of Technology
21. Virginia Tech
22. University of Denver
23. Ithaca College (N.Y.)
24. University of Mary Washington (Va.)
25. Gonzaga University