If you’re not a college girl into fitness, chances are that you haven’t heard of CHAARG, an organization that is taking the nation by storm. CHAARG is an acronym that stands for changing health, attitudes and actions to recreate girls. It originated at Ohio State University, after the founder, Elisabeth Tavierne, ended her athletic career, but wanted to continue to make health and fitness a priority in her everyday life.

Since the launch in 2012, CHAARG has spread to over 50 college campuses nationwide, with a mission to liberate girls from the elliptical, and lead healthy lifestyles. Each chapter is lead by an exec team that consists of an ambassador, VP of membership, VP of media, two Event Coordinators, a Treasurer and a Secretary, all of whom must be driven and organized.

Anyone who knows me knows two things about me: I have a very hard time saying no, and physical fitness is important to me. As someone who grew up playing sports all day, every day, I was dying to fall back into the same pattern throughout college.

CHAARG seemed to be my answer. For the price of $45 per semester, members are able to participate in a variety of studio spotlights at local fitness studios, peer-lead small groups, and social events, all of which are planned by the chapters exec team.

For an additional $45, members can pay to participate in a 6-week fit plan, where members are sent a different workout each day. However, for exec members, the $45 fit plan is required, on top of your $45 membership fee, per semester. This comes out to $225 a year, that each exec member is required to spend on CHAARG per year, at a minimum, since each exec member is expected to serve a full term of 2 semesters.

When I had put in an application to be an exec member, I thought I knew what I was getting myself into. I was signing myself up to be a student leader, in a community of thousands of women across the country.

I was signing myself up for an unpaid, part-time job. However, we are college students, which means we are already broke between trying to pay rent and buy groceries, and also on a tight time schedule between classes, studying, real jobs, and staying involved. When fit plan time rolled around at the beginning of this semester, myself, along with many of my peers, had expressed concern about not being able to afford the fit plan, because we did not receive a scholarship, and no payment plan option was offered.

I was told that ultimately if I couldn’t or didn't purchase my fit plan by the deadline, I would have to step down from my exec position because if I was truly passionate about CHAARG, I would find the funds. We were also told that if we don’t have the ability to actively participate in each fit plan, we don’t have the ability to be an exec leader. This was a huge red flag to me, and I became exposed to the business side of this for-profit “organization.” Since when is financial status tied to leadership ability?

The exec teams are used to advertise CHAARG, and bring in funding to the national level, that consists of 3 paid employees. Each chapter only gets back kickback of $5 per membership that is purchased for the specific college, to go towards social events for members.

Local fitness studios are expected to offer a free session to CHAARG for studio spotlights. While I understand there is a cost for office space, lawyers, insurance, and website maintenance, the hundreds and thousands of dollars CHAARG makes from their members each semester doesn’t add up in the breakdown that is provided to members.

At the end of the day, I love the advertised mission of CHAARG, and everything it stands for, otherwise I would not be giving up my time to do this. Being in CHAARG has also connected me with girls who have become some of my best friends, and for that, I am so thankful.

However, this organization seems to be more focused on being lucrative, rather than having dedicated exec leaders to spread their message. National leaders Elisabeth and Sarah ask that as members, we should trust them and address our concerns. When done, we are given vague responses, called out, and belittled, when all we want is to be understood and related too. CHAARG should stick to their mission of building girls up; not brushing them off and breaking their banks. Small changes can make a huge difference.

CHAARG On,

Angie