Activities and Recreation Center | UC Davis

The gym facility itself is impressive, offering a wide range of equipment and amenities. However, the front desk staff appears to lack training in providing efficient and enthusiastic customer service. While some employees are helpful, others seem disengaged and sometimes prioritize personal conversations over assisting members. Improving the training and engagement of the front desk team would significantly enhance the overall member experience and ensure the gym runs more smoothly… sadly some staff members seem more interested in unnecessary power games instead of actually doing their job. However there's always room for improvement so I'm optimistic about the future.

The Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) at UC Davis is a textbook example of style over substance. On paper, it looks impressive — modern facilities, extensive programs, and the usual promises of promoting student well-being. In reality, it’s overcrowded, poorly maintained, and often more of a source of frustration than benefit. Equipment is frequently out of order, wait times are unreasonable, and the overall atmosphere is chaotic, not motivating. It’s hard to see this as a “resource” when it feels more like a chore to use. The bigger issue is reflective of a wider problem at UC Davis: a university that invests heavily in optics while neglecting basic student needs. Safety concerns go unanswered until tragedy strikes, as seen with the fatal incident involving a student and a garbage truck — something that was preceded by numerous complaints about the exact area. Mental health resources are fragmented at best, despite alarming statistics, including the highest student suicide rate in the UC system between 2008-2018. UC Davis seems far more comfortable directing funds into reputation management — such as extensive PR campaigns after the 2011 incident — rather than providing meaningful, long-term improvements for its students. It’s unfortunate to witness students who are serious about their education sidelined or stigmatized, while administrative priorities revolve around maintaining a polished exterior. For those considering UC Davis because of its advertised “student-centered” experience, I recommend taking a closer look at the consistent pattern of neglect beneath the surface. The ARC, much like the institution it belongs to, appears well-branded but fails to deliver on the essentials.

The ARC is marketed as the centerpiece of health and wellness at UC Davis, but it consistently fails to meet even basic expectations. It’s overcrowded, poorly maintained, and clearly not built to handle the actual student demand. Equipment is often unavailable, and the space doesn’t reflect the needs of a serious university population. But the real concern runs deeper than gym capacity. UC Davis has a long, troubling history of failing to meaningfully support student well-being. Between 2008 and 2018, it reportedly saw the highest number of student suicides among UC campuses — a statistic that should have prompted major institutional change. Yet mental health and wellness often appear to be treated as PR points rather than lived commitments. Even the fatal stabbing incident in 2023 seemed to trigger more damage control than accountability. There’s also a pattern of misunderstanding and marginalizing students who don’t fit the mold. One particularly bright student — genuinely gifted but different — was misjudged and alienated by peers and staff alike. His passion for independent research was wrongly interpreted as threatening behavior, simply because people couldn’t understand him. Instead of support, he was treated with suspicion and exclusion. The result? He chose not to pursue graduate studies at UC Davis — not because he wasn’t qualified, but because the environment failed him. There’s a lot of image management at UC Davis — polished buildings, upbeat messaging, well-funded tours — but under the surface, many students feel unsupported, misunderstood, and pushed aside. The ARC is just one symptom of a much larger issue……

I literally never see the staff do anything to encourage their policies. People take forever, don’t clean equipment, never fix equipment in a timely manner, and never say anything of hoards of friend groups using one machine loudly and obnoxiously. The one thing they do decide to do, is to tell people to wear unsafe shoes when lifting because wearing socks ONLY while lifting - not walking around or anything, isn’t allowed even though it is not explicitly stated. If they want to say it’s unsanitary to wear socks on the ground that no one is working out on, how about the policy to wipe down your equipment? How about those people leaving their sweat on equipment where our body parts and intimate body parts are touching? The spills from outside drinks that are never cleaned up? But no. Socks are their concern.

They have been making changes that seem to just make things worse. There used to be dividers to separate the courts which was useful since a stray ball from another basketball court or volleyball court can cause injuries like a sprained ankle but now there is none so if your stray ball has a potential to roll across 4 other courts. They also take a while to do repairs on machines and currently the lockers are closed for renovation so you have to change in one of the 2 bathrooms available. They also have no volleyballs you can borrow while you are at the arc. The ARC overall feels like it has just gotten a lot worse over the past few months and I hope it gets better.

On top of paying tuition and the gym membership itself, the parking is charged by the hour. At the time of writing this review, an hour costs 2.75. If you frequent the gym enough and you live far, expect to pay at the minimum for the membership itself, 50 dollars, and 110 for parking if you go all weekdays for 2 hours for 4 weeks of the month. A grand total of 160 if you are a dedicated weightlifter. TAPs routinely tickets so you cant get away with it unless you know someone who works in that department personally to void it just because you know someone. The equipment is good but it’s always crowded so expect to work in with someone here and there. No sauna or steam room sadly. The app used for scanning into the gym is outdated and requires you to sign in every time you use the app. They recently did some upgrades but it definitely is not worth your time and money to go here if you are a more experienced lifter. Go here if you get it for free, or go to a gym in sac or woodland. Edit: i recently found out the gym is not in charge of the parking situation, so il retract one star but keep it at three stars. Edit: I went here for a day pass, I was doing a leg day and I didn’t have the proper shoes for barbell squatting, if you have any knowledge on weightlifting, going shoeless with socks is an effective measure you can do in this instance. I was told to not do this by some employees at this gym. Wearing improper shoes for squats can cause injury and muscle imbalances. Furthermore, I noticed some trainers giving improper form to people doing half ass squats that moved an inch; terrible form and terrible trainers that don’t know what they are doing.

Best gym I’ve ever been to. Huge, clean and good vibe. Just avoid the crowded periods

So why am I in the middle of my workout and an employee from the arc comes up to me while i’m squatting to ask me to put on shoes when literally every other standard gym allows you to lift in socks because it’s more optimal while working out??? It’s the floor too so I do not see how it would be an issue? I looked it up and arc policy literally says you can do idk if this girl was told to interrupt people MID workout or what but I saw her do it to like three other people. Not everyone has money to buy proper lifting shoes, my money is going towards tuition to fund this gym that is always busy, has lazy workers, limited equipment, and right now only one functioning in gym bathroom. Edit: It’s ironic that the Arc’s response is about their current policy of close heeled shoes but they don’t stop people pulling up in slides or crocs. Edit: No bags allowed, but taking everything out of the bag to carry it around is allowed? What type of gym is this? What am I allowed to do?

Came to watch some friendly volleyball. There wasn't much food options. Also, ugly uniforms for Colorado. UC Davis is ok. I know one of the players personally. Overall experience eh. Max informed me one of the stalls in the bathroom was out of order. For the woman's bathroom I had to walk all the way downstairs to find it. One girl also walked by with gold fish and didn't offer any even though we were STARVING! Got some wraps eventually so overall I'm doing great! Still want to eat though....stay tuned. Update: I just got that the guy I know has been signaling that he is passionate about ballet and that volleyball is not his calling.

Not enough workers sometimes, some workers have been rude to me in the past. Other than that there are a lot of machines. The people who clean the bathrooms and locker rooms don't show up every day. Sometimes I'll go in there and the entire bathroom is trashed and doesn't have paper towels or toilet paper.

This gym is awesome. I try to go regularly since I'm a student. It's a beautiful gym and it's always busy. I love that they are open until 12 am mon-fri because I prefer to work out later in the day