By Oliver Thomas, Staff Writer  

Earlier this month, Xavier Recreational Services implemented daily guest passes for $10. 

Students, faculty and those with an annual membership can now bring family members and friends into the Health United Building (HUB) with them to workout by purchasing a pass. 

“It’s a question I get asked all the time, but as long as I’ve been working here, we’ve never had a program like that. With that much demand, we thought it would be really good to allow more people to come into the HUB,” junior finance major and Facility Manager at the HUB Ally Baur said.

Guests will have access to nearly all of the HUB’s offerings. The day pass includes access to the cardio floor, strength floor, pool, multi-sport court, track, cycling studio and basketball courts, but excludes Group Fitness classes, as those are exclusively part of the membership packages for annual members and students. 

To be eligible for the guest pass, guests must be accompanied by a Xavier student, faculty, staff member or annual member, and guests must be at least 18 years old or older. 

“It’s a fairly simple process to get someone signed up. The first thing we do is make the guest an account in our computer system. Then we have you fill out a waiver, pay the $10 and you’re good to go,” Baur said. 

The day pass allows for reentry into the HUB as many times as the visitor likes. 

Associate Director of Facilities David Wiley has noticed that this is something students have been asking about for a while now and is excited to be implementing it. 

“I have been approached by a couple of students since this past fall semester about the possibility of day passes so they can bring their friends or family when they are in town,” Wiley said. “I sat in a Student Government Association meeting in the fall semester and this was brought up as well. When students come to us with good ideas and they are realistic to put into motion, we always try to cater to their requests.” 

Guests should keep in mind that as a result of the university’s recent changes to parking, they will also have to pay for an on-campus parking pass for the day. For less than five hours in a spot, visitors may purchase a half-day pass for $5. To be able to have an on-campus parking spot for over five hours, visitors will have to pay $10.

“I have a lot of friends and family in the Cincinnati area. At some point, I’m sure they might want to come get a workout with me at Xavier, and now they can. The $10 fee is completely reasonable, and I’m sure all of them would be willing to pay it without any hesitation,” first-year finance major Chris Joncas said. 

With a little over half the student body being from in-state according to last year’s data, there is a good balance of students who may have family in the area or whose family comes from far away to visit. Now, a trip to the HUB may be added to the list of activities to do while visiting campus.   

“As someone from Cincinnati, I think this is a really good idea. I also know a lot of people from Cincinnati that go to Xavier, and I’m sure at some point they’ll want to bring guests into the HUB. There’s a lot of stuff offered at the HUB, and I think that there is something for everyone to do there depending on their interests,” first-year finance major Neil O’Conner said.