Every Thursday night in Kenna Hall, UP students gather socially for a good time in the sauna. (Bryan Brenize -- The Beacon)
By Laura Frazier, Staff Writer -- frazier13@up.edu
Where can students go to sweat out their issues and embrace the experience of sitting in a dark, smelly room with a bunch of their friends?
The Kenna Hall sauna, of course. Thanks to a few UP students, the Thursday night Sauna Social is the new place to be.
Last year, sophomore Phil Stenberg started using the sauna in the basement of Kenna Hall regularly after a swimming class. The next thing he knew, he was posting on a white board in the lobby, advertising for company, and found himself joined by most of his wing from Kenna.
It wasn't easy getting people to buy into spending time in the infamous sauna, thanks to a group of Kenna boys four years ago.
Stenberg explained how the group of boys made a video where they took black lights into the sauna. Fluids showed up under the light and made the sauna seem disgusting, and students decided not to use it. Stenberg claims that the video was staged.
However, sophomore Trevor Webber assures students that the sauna is indeed sanitary.
"There is nothing gross about the sauna," he said. "They clean it every night and we clean up after ourselves."
Another issue complicating the popularity of the Sauna Social was the smell. Stenberg and Webber thought up a creative solution for this problem: they pour tea over the hot rocks. According to both students, it instantly it smells better, at least faintly like tea instead of body odor.
But Stenberg thinks that the smell is just another aspect to the sauna.
"The smell is a large complaint," he said. "But it's not supposed to smell beautiful."
Webber agrees.
"It's an acquired smell for sure," he said.
Stench aside, the Sauna Social is gaining popularity with students. Stenberg said that last year the most students they had at once was nine, but this year it has increased to 15.
Last year, mostly men attended the Sauna Social because girls felt uncomfortable with the whole concept of the sauna, Stenberg said.
"I don't feel like girls are comfortable sweating in front of other people," he said.
But now, Webber said that girls are warming up to the idea.
"Girls were kind of afraid," Webber said. "They did not want to be wet and gross, but now more girls do come."
Freshman Amanda Marques needed to be convinced to attend by Webber and Stenberg, but now enjoys the sauna and puts the sweat aspect into perspective.
"You really sweat a lot and can't hide that fact. But guys sweat just as much, or more," she said. "We are all friends with the guys so it's not weird."
Marques said that one of the main reasons she attends is for the quirky activities that go along with the Sauna Social, like playing the memory game "concentration" or reciting the Pledge of Allegiance while standing as to best feel the heat.
Webber said that the best aspect of the Sauna Social is the group bonding.
"When it starts to get uncomfortable, you just know that everyone is in it together," he said. "We are all sweating."
Stenberg likes how the sauna helped him get to know people in Kenna Hall better, especially the underclassmen and even the RAs who attend.
"I've gotten to know a lot of the guys for sure, and I am getting to know the freshmen a lot better," he said.
Webber said that people always seem to make it back to the sauna.
"Everyone who's been there once has come back again," he said. "Even past Kenna residents who now live off campus return."
Junior Brendan Ermish, who lived in Kenna Hall as a freshman and a sophomore, returns to the Sauna Social to keep in touch with people.
"It's a combination of seeing people that are there, and enjoying the sauna," he said.
But Webber wants to emphasize that Sauna Social is not only for Kenna residents.
"We are always recruiting," he said. " It's a school-wide thing, not just a Kenna thing."
Sophomore Emma Healy does not live in Kenna Hall, but still had a positive experience at the Sauna Social.
"It was a good way to get together and meet people," she said. "I didn't feel different that I was outside of Kenna."
Webber, the self-proclaimed founder of Sauna Social put it simply.
"We are all presidents of our own bodies. We are all citizens of the sauna."
