By Caroline Garcia, arts, culture and sports reporter
The YMCA of Blacksburg is hosting their annual book fair, where they are selling used books, maps, vinyl records, and other physical media at affordable prices. The fair is taking place October 2nd through 4th, with a preview event on October 1st. Proceeds from the sale go toward YMCA initiatives, including literacy efforts in the New River Valley.
By Caroline Garcia, art, sports, and culture reporter
On a college campus where many are focused on academics and building a resume, one club wants to help the physical and mental wellness of women, building them up and bringing them together outside the classroom.
The Virginia Tech campus is home to two sizable gyms with all of the equipment one could ever need and more. Some students come into college as avid gym goers, whereas others might be stepping into a gym for the first time.
Despite previous knowledge, stepping into a new gym can be intimidating, or not having a gym buddy can be discouraging. CHAARG, a workout club at Virginia Tech, is working to curate a welcoming, inviting environment for women at Virginia Tech to workout together without judgment, expectations, or prior knowledge.
CHAARG (Changing Health Attitudes + Actions to Recreate Girls) is a national health and fitness organization that operates as a student-run club with hundreds of branches at colleges and universities across the country. The organization was founded in 2012 at The Ohio State University with the motivation of helping women to become more comfortable in the gym while also being able to have fun.
The Virginia Tech chapter was founded a few years ago, and has grown in size with over 100 members currently. Girls can become members of CHAARG, where they are exposed to a range of workout opportunities. Members are invited to join weekly group workouts, small group bonding activities, and social events. Workouts vary from week to week, exposing members to all different types of workout classes, including boxing, dance classes, weight training, running, and more.
Event coordinator for CHAARG, Alisa Calabro during a group workout at Blacksburg Boxing. September 15, 2026. Photo by Caroline Garcia.
The group element also brings a new smaller community of women to have fellowship with on a large campus. Alisa Calabro, the current event coordinator for CHAARG, shares her insight on the community CHAARG provides: “I really just like that it is a women-based community. The founder of CHAARG created workout groups so that you could try new things without having to feel judged or intimidated by gym bros grunting and screaming at the gym. We’re a community where you’re more comfortable being yourself around other people who you know are not going to judge you being there. It’s nice. Everyone’s so nice.”
“You know nobody’s looking. We’re doing jazz dance soon. I’ve never done jazz dance before and I can’t dance, but I go to these things knowing they’re not going to laugh at me or anything, and I can just try it and be free to do so. So it’s pretty cool,” Alisa added. “Another new thing we have this year is a run club — this is just additional stuff, because really the biggest thing we’re trying to do is make campus a little less intimidating.”
The weekly large group workouts exist to bring women together, while the small groups create even more intimate groups where real friendships and connections can develop. The small groups are structured where girls can sign up for a time slot that works with their schedule, and they are assigned a weekly slot with the same girls each week. The smaller groups allow girls to make deeper connections with each other by having consistent meetups to participate in a fun activity or just hang out with one another.
The club doesn’t just want to help women workout, but help to create a space for women to meet each other and broaden their horizons. “The group workouts challenge girls to try new workouts without feeling pressure or intimidation in a new environment,” said Halla Baugher, the vice president of media for CHAARG.
Aside from exercise, the leadership team is working hard to ensure that CHAARG focuses on a comprehensive scope on wellness. This semester, the club is bringing in health experts to speak on how food and exercise work in tandem — assuring members feel strong and energized for their workouts.
“The leadership team, we’re prioritizing staying healthy,” adds Calabro. “This year we’re trying to add in a dietician to come speak with us, so that no unhealthy habits accidentally form through a college fitness group. We think that’s very important.” With 50% of teenage girls participating in disordered eating behaviors, this education is more important than ever.
Accessibility is a pillar of what CHAARG is working toward. While making working out with new people more accessible, they also help to make classes more accessible financially. Many studios that host events with the club charge hundreds of dollars for memberships or individual sessions. In CHAARG, the women will pay an affordable fee in dues for the semester, which will cover all weekly classes that otherwise would add up quickly in price. The national organization also has grants where applicants can have their dues covered or dropped significantly, because they want all women to be included in the community.
Group photo at the end of the weekly CHAARG workout, holding up the organization’s logo. September 15, 2026. Photo by Caroline Garcia.
In a large school and online world, community is what people are looking for. Many girls have found this in CHAARG. Nihar, a freshman in the club, shares her reason for loving CHAARG: “It’s a really great community of girls. Everyone is all friends. I’m a freshman, so it’s my first year, and I think it’s a great way to get active and find a community.”
Calabro mentioned how she was able to meet a lot of girls that were outside of her major. “I just really like that it brings people together closer than just being in a club and coexisting with each other — you actually make connections and meet a lot of people you probably wouldn’t.”
CHAARG exhibits how health and community can work together to benefit students, both physically and mentally. With a goal of creating a belonging workout community without the intimidation, the organization exhibits a wellness goal Virginia Tech commits to: no Hokie left behind.
by Caroline Garcia, arts, culture and sports reporter.
Virginia Tech now has a women’s club golf team for the first time, and now has over 20 girls playing and competing in its first seasons.
As the school year starts ramping up, so are athletics at Virginia Tech. Freshmen and other students alike are trying out for club and rec teams. But not all sports are created equal. Just a year ago, there was no club sports team for women’s golf, despite a flourishing men’s team with over 80 members.
Emma Miller was a student eager to join club golf in college, only to find herself in a large room with only men golfers. Rather than quitting or being the sole woman on the team, Miller thought of the idea to start a club team for women to play golf at Virginia Tech.
In an interview, Miller speaks on her experience starting the women’s club golf team and motivations behind it.
Her comments were edited slightly for length and clarity.
What was the experience like trying out for the men’s team?
I was the only girl on the team that made it, out of, I think, three girls that tried out. There weren’t as many girls anyway in the beginning — there were 85 guys on the team, and I was the only girl. So I was like, this is way too many men. But I went and I made the team.
What was the process of creating a women’s team?
I talked to the president of club golf and I talked to the rec sports office. I said, do you think it would be possible if we made a women’s branch of the team so that they can try out and not be intimidated, even playing with guys? They said, “You can start a women’s team. It’ll just be a branch — we’ll have a position for you, women’s captain.” So we went and did that. Then I made the Instagram account, sent out tryout information. We got 25 girls to try out, and then we had 15 to 20 girls make the team. That was a lot of fun, but it took a lot of work.
What does it look like to have a branch off the men’s team?
We’re not fully split, because we’re coed. We have people to run stuff for us, like our Instagram, so that we get more girls. We’re allowed to host our own events and call ourselves the women’s club golf team. We get to do things on our own.
How long did the process take to officially become established?
It took about a year and a half to officially become established. I talked to the sports club advisor, and it’s official as of September 2025. I’m on exec and the board so that the women have more of a say in what they do. For tournaments, it’s actually really easy for us, because the guys still handle all that. We have enough representation that we can send four to six girls to tournaments, when we used to send none. It was a pretty smooth process getting tournaments for the women, but it was a pretty long process to get us situated and set up as an official branch.
In tournaments, do you play against other women, or how does that work?
We usually play against guys, because we’re the only team in our conference that really has any women.
What motivated you to create a team for women to feel comfortable playing on?
Girls were really intimidated because there were 70 guys while claiming to be coed. I was really motivated to get the team started because I want a safe space for girls to be able to play golf and feel like they can play and be competitive at the collegiate level without worrying about how they’re playing because of the guys and what they say.
How has your relationship been with the men’s golf team? Are they accepting or helpful?
Yeah, I like to be close with the president and all of our exec members. We’re trying to get a little more involved with what they’re doing, because their events are a little different than ours. We’re trying to get incorporated into those events a bit more. Now that we have the club set up and situated, the relationships are going to be a little better, because we’ll be closer to them and able to hang out and play golf with them more. I feel like that’s just what we need.
Do you wish other schools had women’s club golf teams? Why do you think they might not yet?
I feel like the reason they don’t really have other teams is because they don’t know the demand for women in golf — there are a lot of girls that play, they’re just intimidated, and schools haven’t taken the steps to be less intimidating. Hopefully, once they see that teams like ours are out there, they’ll be inspired to take steps toward having their own women’s team.
Is there anything else you wish people knew about women’s club golf, or club sports in general?
I would just say it’s very important for women to be involved in sports in college, because not a ton of people go after that. I feel like it’s super important to have people that support you.
What has been your favorite part of being a part of, or leading, the club golf team?
I guess I just really love the community. I love my people — they’re really fun, really awesome. We do a lot of things together, which is really nice. We golf together, and a lot of the time we also get better.
Have you seen growth in the girls since starting?
Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of girls get better. One girl was shooting in the 50s, and then as soon as she and I were playing together, we really challenged each other, and now she’s shooting in the low 40s, which is pretty good.
