Students hitting the gym on the first day of classes won't be able to grab a free small towel at the front desk of the TCU Recreation Center.

Starting Aug. 19, the Rec Center will no longer be providing small workout towels to gym members.

A sign in the Rec Center says "expenditures to maintain small towel service has significantly increased" and that there has been a "significant drop in return rate of small towels."

The sign also notes the money saved can be spent on cleanliness elsewhere.

Jay Iorizzo, the athletic director of facilities at the Rec Center, wrote in an email that "funds spent elsewhere will provide a more sanitary environment" for gym members.

Junior criminal justice major Caroline Collins said she is surprised at the change.

“Almost all students use the small towels when they go to the Rec,” Collins said. “Changing the policy on something like this doesn’t seem right to me.”

Small towels will be available for purchase for $4 at the member services desk, according to the policy page of the Rec Center website. 

Andrew Wright, a senior physical education and kinesiology double major and front desk worker at the Rec Center, said there will be ways to avoid having to purchase a towel.

“They are going to encourage bringing your own towel a lot more now,” Wright said.

Kate Meiresonne, a junior food management major, said she isn't too bothered by the change in policy.

“If the money is going to be used to improve sanitation in other ways, I’m okay with having to bring my own towel instead,” she said. “It’s only a minor inconvenience.”

Large shower towels will still be available, but are limited to usage in locker rooms and aquatic facilities only, according to the Rec Center policy page.

Members will be limited to one large towel at a time, though, and will be required to leave their identification card at the member services desk. 

Comments addressing this change or any other issue can be made directly to the Rec Center via a comment card on the Rec Center website.