Creating Wellness

Morris Recreation Center

The Morris Recreation Center features outdoor and indoor facilities that satisfy the adventurer and health nut in everyone. Outside, students can enjoy the heated pool, two-tier hot tub with waterfall, sand volleyball courts, basketball courts, picnic tables, BBQ pits, or just lay back and enjoy the sun. Indoors students can scale a 45-foot climbing rock, run on the three-lane jogging track, or work up a sweat on one of four racquetball courts, two basketball courts, fitness room with weights and cardio machines, or the aerobics rooms. The MRC's newest addition is the Adventure Based Experience facility featuring a massive outdoor challenge course.

by Savannah Christian

At any time of the day or night, activity and energy abounds in the Morris Recreation Center. Promoting health, fitness and overall wellness, the building is open to students, university employees and the Commerce community.

Dimitri Lyon, senior admissions recruiter, believes the recreation center
is one of the most popular features of the campus and is an attractive asset for potential students.

“The recreation center provides an opportunity to escape from the rigidity
of the classroom environment,” Dimitri said. “Classes are challenging and college life brings its own level of stress to each student. To many, finding an opportunity to work out helps to relieve stress. What is particularly great about our recreation center is the fact that it focuses on not just physical health, but rather overall wellness.”

Since stress can weigh heavy on students as they try to balance class, work and study time while maintaining some sense of personal or free time, students such as Brittany Bettes, senior health and human performance major, use the center's resources as an outlet to dispose of that tension.

“I enjoy working out at the rec because of the atmosphere it provides,” Brittany said.  “Being around other people with an interest in physical fitness motivates me and pushes me to work harder. I think the rec is essential to our campus because it helps promote a healthy lifestyle as well as providing an outlet to relieve stress.”

The Morris Recreation Center houses two basketball courts, an indoor jogging track, 6,000 square feet of cardio and weight room space, four racquetball courts, a 45-foot climbing wall, a new bouldering wall, fitness classes, an outdoor pool facility, and an intramural sports program for students.

“I came to A&M-Commerce in June 2009, and since then, we have seen a great increase in student use of the Morris Recreation Center,” said Jorge Juarez, director of campus recreation. “When this building opened in 2003, there were almost 8,000 students. Eight years later, our enrollment exceeds 11,000. Furthermore, with the new residence hall being built, the rec center and its programs will be even more in demand and near capacity.”

As A&M-Commerce grows, its facilities must accommodate the change that such expansion brings. While the university continues to gain more attention, nationally and internationally, becoming the place to be for an all-encompassing learning experience, the Morris Recreation Center will play an even greater role in helping our students, employees and the community live healthier lives.