As a freshman, Claudia Pagan hoped she would find a group of girls who shared her passion for fitness; so she took initiative to bring CHAARG, a national organization, to this university.
“There’s nothing like this on campus so I knew girls would love being able to meet up and work out in a setting where everyone is comfortable with each other,” she said.
Pagan, now a sophomore journalism major who is now University of Maryland’s CHAARG ambassador, was nervous to apply to start a chapter because at the time, she was only a freshman.
“I just had to take that leap and I’m really glad I did. It was exciting because they had never had a freshman ambassador,” Pagan said.
Girls from over 60 schools applied to start a CHAARG chapter at their colleges, and in the end, University of Maryland was one of four schools chosen to join the five chapters that already existed.
“I think it’s a really positive thing to have on campus,” junior journalism major Alicia McElhaney said. “College is a time when people are very self-conscious so having an accepting group is good.”
Pagan wanted to help girls break out of their usual routines of forcing themselves to go to the gym and spending an hour a day on cardio machines.
“The CHAARG motto is to liberate girls from the elliptical. There seems to be this stereotype that girls are weak,” Pagan said. CHAARG aims to break the stereotype and give them new, unique ways to work out.
Members spell out CHAARG with their bodies
For $45 per semester, members can participate in a weekly fitness or health-related activity, which can be anything from boot camp with a Nike trainer, a meeting with a dietitian, and most recently, group yoga on McKeldin Mall.
CHAARG members also meet weekly within smaller groups to get to know each other on a more personal level.
“I like to stress the community aspect because it’s a huge part of what girls look for when they come to college,” Pagan said.
The sense of community appealed to Rebecca Sachs, a sophomore sociology major who joined CHAARG this current school year.
“I get weekly motivation to try a new form of exercise and a support system of girls who encourage rather than judge one another,” Sachs said.
CHAARG is unique in promoting a healthy lifestyle and body image rather than a specific weight or body type. For members, working out becomes exciting instead of cumbersome.
Yoga on Mckeldin Mall
“Since this is targeted solely toward girls, it allows them to get more comfortable with fitness,” Connie Chou, a senior marketing major, said. “Not a lot of girls feel comfortable enough to go to the gym and do things like lifting weights.”
McElhaney and Chou were able to attend yoga on the mall despite not being CHAARG members, and Pagan is planning more events that are open to all students to get people excited about fitness.
“I think more girls could benefit from joining because CHAARG promotes healthy body image and an overall healthy lifestyle which many college students struggle to achieve,” Sachs said.
CHAARG helps girls to realize that being healthy is not about what their bodies look like but how they feel about themselves.
“If there’s one thing I want people to know about us, it’s that there’s a whole community of girls in CHAARG on campus and across the nation who support each other,” Pagan said.