Students voice several Lyon Center concerns


The Undergraduate Student Government held a forum Wednesday for Lyon Center administrators to field student concerns ranging from problems with broken equipment to a shortage of space for outdoor soccer teams.

Work it out · Lyon Center administrators address questions and concerns of students at a forum moderated by Mikey Geragos (far right), Undergraduate Student Government’s director of University Affairs. - Razan Al Marzouqi | Daily Trojan

Mike Kohl, the president of the Recreational Club Council, Justine Gilman, senior associate director of recreational sports at the Lyon Center and Sara Shin, coordinator of intramural sports, comprised the panel.

Lyon Center representatives also informed students of the scope of the recent renovations to the gym. Gilman said the university spent more than $2 million replacing lockers, lights and repainting the main gym over winter break.

Gilman said these repairs were possible because of the cooperation of university administration, but stressed the importance of voicing concerns to the administration.

“Both our president and provost are aware that recreation is a priority and the more they hear from the students that is a priority, the more it will be a priority,” Gilman said.

USG representatives who put on the event said they realized the importance of making student concerns heard.

“The forum is a great way for students to voice concerns to the administration of the Lyon Center directly,” USG President Monish Tyagi said. “We’ve seen forums be very successful on different issues in the past.”

Students in the audience also said it was helpful to have a direct conversation with administrators. Some said they were not aware of the efforts to renovate the Lyon Center.

“I was impressed with their efforts to fix their facilities,” USG Senator Pro Tempore Vinnie Prasad said. “It gave us an insight into what goes on behind the scenes at the Lyon Center and intramural sports.”

Several students hoped the forum would help the administration see the Lyon Center from a student’s point of view.

Issues such as replacing the handholds on the rock climbing wall in the back of the gym and adding more intramural fields were discussed.

“Constantly working equipment is my biggest concern,” said Ashley Smith, a sophomore majoring in communication. “But I would like to see higher sustainability, like spigot water fountains, for filling water bottles too.”

The discussion mostly addressed issues of crowding and equipment.

“The Lyon Center needs more bench presses so it is less crowded in the weight rooms,” said Ayinde Armour, a senior majoring in electrical engineering.

Amy Rasplicka, a sophomore majoring in business administration, said she has noticed broken equipment can lead to overcrowding.

“If they just got all the broken machines fixed, not even just the TVs but the actual machines, I think things would be a lot better,” Rasplicka said.

Gilman and the other administrators were hopeful they could resolve students’ issues.

“We have over 3,000 people that use the Lyon Center a day, so we have a lot of users, but we have a full time staff that is available to listen to people with issues,” Gilman said.