Students Cry Foul Over Lack of Gym Access

By Arthur Duckett, Jr.

There has always been a comparison between the various experiences, opportunities and amenities received in community colleges versus traditional universities, especially how similar they are in terms of quality. Unfortunately, the basketball court is one basic amenity that students of Prince George’s Community College can’t boast about. Although there is a basketball court in the Novak Field House, PGCC students can’t use it for recreation since the rims are almost always cranked upward to disallow use.

When asked why this policy was set in place, Eva E. Toler, PGCC’s Chair of Health and Human Performance, had this to say: “I’ve been at the college for 20 years and there’s been a standing policy that the gym has not been open for students just to walk in (due to) liability issues.” Students are only allowed to play basketball in the gymnasium during specified times set by the school’s intramural activities schedule, said Toler.

The allowed times provided, however, are few and far between. According to the schedule of events published in the February issue of The Owl newspaper, open gym access for basketball games is only scheduled for three hours between February 5th and April 14th.

Other local schools do not have such a restrictive policy. For example, the University of Maryland and the University of North Carolina were faced with the same “liability issues” and solved the problem by placing a disclaimer on their school's website. Both schools have set in place regular hours of operation for their basketball gyms in addition to their school’s intramural activity schedule.
Isai Hamid, a first-year forensic science major said, “I understand why the gym isn’t just open for students to use. The Novak building has classrooms where instructions are taking place.” She said that “if the gym were open, the noise from students playing basketball would disrupt students in their classes.” William Fitzgerald, a first-year computer graphics major said, “It isn’t fair that we aren’t allowed to use the Novak basketball court, especially since we the students pay for the facility.” Funding for the basketball gym comes from instructional and activity fees that are included in a student’s tuition.

When asked her opinion on this subject, Toler said, “We do the best we can to meet student needs with what we are given. Liability-wise, I am in no way in support of letting the rims down and letting students in, because we are seeing an increase in unacceptable behavior in this building.”