While Spelman College cut its intercollegiate programs in the beginning of April to afford campus-wide wellness programs, Stony Brook University’s athletics and recreation fee show no signs of going down.

Unlike institutions like Spelman College, Stony Brook’s athletics and recreational or wellness programs are funded separately.

Stony Brook is a public institution attracting around 16,000 undergraduates and 7,000 to 8,000 graduate students a semester according to the university’s enrollment history.

In comparison to Spelman, an all-women’s college home to 2,100 students, Stony Brook is also younger being founded in 1957, 76 years after Spelman.

For schools especially younger institutions like Stony Brook, athletics is one way to promote the university.

Here, students pay $248.50 a semester for athletics alone. The recreational fee, geared towards the upkeep of the Campus Recreation Center, funding for the equipment and support for more than 250 employees is $75 and may increase by $2.25 for the next academic year.

The activities fee also contributes to the Recreation Center’s funding, as the Undergraduate Student Government pays the instructors conducting fitness classes.

For Spelman this is most likely not the case. Spelman College did not comment.

In regard to the cuts, Jay Souza, Director of Campus Recreation at Stony Brook, says several factors come into play for small institutions like Spelman. “They’re a D3 school. We’re a D1, which is a big difference because, depending on the size of the university and the competition level…that’s probably why they did this.”

According to its website, Spelman justifies its decision saying “instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars transporting a small number of athletes to intercollegiate events, we will be investing those dollars in intramural programs and wellness activities that can be sustained for a lifetime.”

        Also, Spelman’s wellness programs could mean healthier lives for their students who, according to Spelman’s website, are at risk for poor health outcomes.

        It is unknown how much of the nearly $250 athletics fee at Stony Brook goes toward equipment, uniforms and other equipment for the sports teams. One thing that is for sure is that sport and fitness-lovers campus wide will not be stuck with one or the other.

As the semester comes to a close, Stony Brook students have been entertained by baseball, softball and lacrosse games, among others.

But for Spelman, the tennis team was the last one standing coming down to the ending of the academic year. The team finally ended its program on April 27. In its final tournament, the school’s team did not advance to the championship match despite hard work.

Regardless of lost programs, or increasing fees, the future is anything but bleak for both Spelman and Stony Brook as both institutions are committed to improving the health of its students.