College Students Turn to Wellness Events Over Alcohol and Clubbing

College students are increasingly incorporating fitness and wellness into their social lives on campus, including with events like group runs, Pilates classes and cold plunges that are gaining popularity.

The Details: The New York Post (Right bias) reported that "wellness darties," or day parties centered on health and fitness, have become a widespread trend on college campuses, replacing drinking and clubbing as social activities. Some of these activities include run clubs, cold plunges, workout classes and saunas. The Post and Wall Street Journal (Center) reported that the trend has led to several student-run businesses that organize these events for Greek life.

For Context: Several outlets said the trend reflects the changing attitude of young adults toward college social life, with some students seeking alternatives to traditional, alcohol-centered events and gatherings. Gallup (Center) found that alcohol consumption has fallen to 54% – the lowest level since Gallup began tracking in 1939. According to Bloomberg (Lean Left), the world's top listed beer, wine and spirits makers have lost a combined $830 billion in the last four years.

Business Venture: Wall Street Journal focused on the business side of the trend, including brand partnerships, social media amplifications and salaries generated through membership costs. The Journal wrote, "For students, fitness has become not just a virtue but a path to a lucrative influencing career." It highlighted one group at the University of Southern California called USC Wellness Society, which has grown to over 145 universities in the US and Australia since it started. According to the Journal, its founders reportedly pay themselves $25,000 a quarter to run the Wellness Society.

'Fixation' on Wellness: Fox News (Right) interviewed a nutritionist who said there were benefits but that overly fixating on fitness-"maxxing" can be problematic. The nutritionist said the trends reflected how students were recognizing the importance of building healthy habits and were helping to build community and a social life that can extend later into life. The interview also highlighted nutritional habits among young people including downsides associated with the "hyper-fixation" of protein.

Generational Shift: A CNN (Lean Left) segment focused on wellness events replacing alcohol-centered events. It interviewed a student, Marty Mocs, who started Sweat & Soak wellness company to inspire students to get into a healthy lifestyle. Mocs told CNN that most of the criticism comes from millennials who say Gen Z is "too soft" and "can't have fun." Other students told CNN that young people seemed to care more about their health, while others said it was a result of trends like "look-maxxing."

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.