Image Courtesy of Office of Communications/ Franklin & Marshall College.
Franklin & Marshall College has extraordinary alumni, eager to support students with their ideas and experience. This quality is distinctly represented in Ken Mehlman ‘88, F&M trustee and board vice chair, with his historic $7.5 million donation to support athletics and wellness at F&M.
On November 6, the College announced the development of the Mehlman Center for Strength, Conditioning, Wellness and Performance. The Mehlman Center will be connected to the existing Alumni Sports & Fitness Center, adding 20,500 square feet to promote strength training, fitness and wellness for the entire F&M community. This project is part of a larger effort of Mehlman and the college to improve facilities and provide more support for athletes. The donation also includes the refurbishment of 10,000 square feet of the existing fitness center.
The goal of this center is to bring the scientific benefits of exercise, like improved thinking and focus from endorphin release, and “put it to work in the F&M community,” said Mehlman. Although the former news and editorial editor for the College Reporter was not a varsity athlete himself, he has found throughout his life that “aggressive fitness helps produce aggressive performance in all components of your life,” which is the driving principle behind the Center. He embodied this principle during his time running George W. Bush’s reelection campaign; intense daily workouts improved his focus and produced his best ideas as his campaign manager.
Mehlmen believes this exercise premium benefits all aspects of life: athletic, academic, professional, business, or political. The premium provides increased functionality in high-stress situations while maintaining purpose and effectiveness.
The center is also designed to support F&M coaches and athletes with world-class facilities, as well as future leaders. One goal of the Center and the Leadership & Performance Institute– another recent gift from Mehlman– is bringing in experts to better understand how to “achieve the flow state.” He sees a strong connection between supporting and understanding our bodies and effective leadership. Leadership in all aspects of life.
President Rich hopes the Center will not just improve personal performance, but build community among F&M. “Athletics are integral to the fabric of F&M,” he said. However, right now, with numerous lift rotations and complicated scheduling, student athletes have minimal flexibility, limiting their interactions with other students in shared spaces, like our Fitness Center. “It would be wonderful if we could create more opportunities for students to come together across different silos,” Rich explained– and the Mehlman Center is a key place to start.
President Andrew Rich also recognizes that athletics are deeply tied to tradition and a sense of school spirit. Increased celebration and attendance of athletic events from all members of the community offers the chance to build connections across different campus groups. “I think most people have fun if they go [to athletic events]– because it’s a ton of fun,” said Rich. “You feel good, you feel good with each other, and you feel good about the College.” He understands the Center cannot achieve this goal alone and sees it as an important first step in building tradition at the College. With an overwhelming majority of students involved in varsity or intramural sports, athletics is a key first step in instilling a strong sense of school pride.
Spirited or not, the Fitness and Wellness Center will have a function for all academic minds in the F&M community. “My best ideas, my most creative ideas, happen in and around a workout,” said Mehlman. And to students who are still unconvinced the Center will add any value to their F&M experience, Mehlman says, “Just do it. Try for a month training hard, and see what it does to how you operate in all components of your life.”
Rich believes that wellness is an important part of life and hopes “every student can take advantage of the equipment and find habits of how to care for themselves that will serve them throughout life.”
The Center will begin construction in late 2026 or early 2027 and is anticipated to be completed in less than two years.
Junior Lily Andrey is the Editor-in-Chief. Her email is landrey@fandm.edu.