Kehinde Hopkins

The Morton Fitness Center’s Spring 2025 hours.

At the beginning of the spring semester, TxWes students were taken by surprise. The Morton Fitness Center (MFC), the campus recreation facility, eliminated all weekend hours, causing students to voice concerns about the change.   

Since the Spring 2024 semester, the center has been accessible to students seven days a week. In the Fall 2024 semester, Saturday hours were cut; now this Spring, Sunday hours have followed. Many students feel that the facility plays a vital role in their overall well-being and development, providing opportunities for physical activity, social interaction, stress relief, and personal growth.  

Braeden Baller, a senior wrestler who uses the MFC regularly, works to become the best version of himself. With his busy schedule during the week, he used the weekend hours often. 

“The weekend closure really makes it hard to trust the Morton Center as a full-time gym. For me, personally, I have the most free time on the weekends, and it would be the easiest to work out, but I can’t,” Baller said.  

Baller said that students who live on campus may be especially inconvenienced. 

“Many people do not have cars and are stuck on campus with no access to the facility.” Baller said. “I feel that to have better mental and physical health, this access needs to be provided seven days a week.” 

Other students echoed his sentiments. Dakota Rodgers, junior business major, emphasized that last semester those gym hours were something he often used on the weekends. 

“I think it’s important to be open on the weekends” Rodgers said. “The gym is some people’s happy place; it just seems inappropriate to take that away.”  

Over the years the MFC has tried different time slots in search of what seems to work best for the university and the students, but complete weekend closure has never been an option, until now.

The Director of Campus Recreation Aaron Whaley, who has been at Texas Wesleyan for 18 years, said it was not cost effective to stay open on the weekends, and he has no plans to consider extending the hours of operation. 

“The 2024 fall semester showed that student scans at the MFC were only averaging 4.1 students on the weekends,” said Whaley. “Due to this low turnout, we decided that it wasn’t cost effective to continue.” 

As for now, the MFC will remain closed on weekends, but some students are hoping that they will be met by another surprise, news that the center will once again return to operating seven days a week. 

“We definitely need to do something about the closure so that students have access to fitness on the weekends,” Baller said. “I feel I have better mental and physical health with access to the gym seven days a week.”