Campus Recreation<\/a> department. For Fascitelli, this is the first strength equipment overhaul since the facility opened in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDr. Jarrell Garcia, URI\u2019s associate director of Campus Recreation, who was instrumental in the selection process alongside David Jenkins, the department\u2019s coordinator of fitness, health, and well-being, said replacing the equipment from a functionality and safety standpoint was long overdue \u2013 \u201cEverything has a certain warranty,\u201d Garcia said \u2013 but the team also felt a more pressing need through the years to update the inventory based on space needs and ever-changing fitness trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Garcia noted that they didn\u2019t want to fall into that trap of chasing trends that change year to year. \u201cWe wanted the most efficient, highest-quality, and best-looking products so that our students feel not just comfortable entering our space, but confident entering our space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jenkins, who created URI\u2019s Faculty and Staff Fitness Training Program, otherwise known as FAST, said he and Garcia took a deep look at equipment manufacturers who specialize in higher education spaces to help determine which machines are more commonly used among college students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn some cases, we lean on those manufacturers and say, \u2018What are you guys seeing across different universities about equipment that’s being put in?\u2019\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cThen, of course, we look at our community specifically. \u2018What are they asking for?\u2019 Then we look at, from a facility standpoint, \u2018What is and isn’t being used?\u2019 We\u2019ve trained our rec attendants to see where people are throughout the facility and throughout the week and throughout different hours, and that helps us determine what’s trendy for the industry and what’s actually being used here at URI.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The breakdown of inventory added during winter break is a combination of replacement equipment and newer, more functional versions of previously-existing equipment \u2013 for example, cable crossover machines that aren\u2019t necessarily new to Fascitelli or Mackal, but are modern versions designed to allow for more users at one time. Campus Recreation also added more of what\u2019s popular, including more hack squat machines and twice as many weightlifting platforms. The latter is a nod to the recent increase in popularity of Olympic lifting, which, Garcia says, shows that Campus Recreation is still paying attention to fitness trends even if it\u2019s not the sole source of determining which upgrades are necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Likewise, some of the new equipment is more streamlined in that it takes up less space, allowing for a redesign of the floor plans in both facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo the naked eye, people might think there\u2019s less here, but it\u2019s actually way more,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cWe\u2019re just able to be better and more intentional with how we designed the space. It\u2019s about being as efficient with the space we have. I’m sure we probably could fit another five pieces of equipment in Fascitelli, but then the user experience suffers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s finding that balance of having equipment that is more functional and having more pieces of equipment so that more people can exercise at one time, but it’s not to the point where you don’t even feel comfortable using the space because someone’s breathing down your neck, literally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The equipment upgrades also reflect the growing population of URI gymgoers; Garcia said there\u2019s been a 15% increase in student attendees year over year, and Campus Recreation is anticipating more than 50,000 visits over the first six weeks of the spring semester, so the timing of this project is perfect. With the university\u2019s new housing project underway, which will add more than 900 new beds via two new residence halls on Flagg Road by 2028, the need to upgrade the fitness facilities and accommodate more students becomes even greater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From a branding perspective, the new equipment fashioned with the Campus Recreation trademark increases the department\u2019s identity, which Garcia said is something the department has been working on over the last several years under the guidance of Haley Menezes, Campus Recreation\u2019s assistant director of marketing and outreach. Everything from the actual machines to the bumper plates used on barbells will feature Campus Recreation branding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThrough that work, Garcia said, \u201cwe have slowly started to build the reputation of not just being service-oriented, but also knowing you can go to Campus Recreation for a variety of fitness and wellness needs. I wanted to build upon that, so people know it’s going to look a certain way, it’s going to feel a certain way, and it’s going to come with a certain level of quality. We knew that when the time came to purchase new equipment, that brand identity needed to be tied into the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next step, which is expected within the next years, according to Garcia, is replacing cardio equipment at both facilities, which will require the same level of industry analysis and studying of trends that went into the selection process for this year\u2019s strength equipment overhaul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
###<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michael Parente, director of communications and marketing in the URI Division of Student Affairs, wrote this news release.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During winter break, more than 200 new pieces of equipment, including weightlifting platforms, machines, and branded dumbbells and plates, were installed at both on-campus fitness locations KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Jan. 22, 2026 \u2013\u00a0New Year\u2019s resolution makers and avid gymgoers, unite \u2013 the University of Rhode Island has made long-awaited upgrades to its on-campus fitness facilities. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5297,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[13,17],"class_list":["post-3598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-news","tag-spring-2026"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5297"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3600,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3598\/revisions\/3600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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