HPER uses video contest to promote purpose of school

It’s a basketball gym. It’s an exercise facility. It’s a ... school?

The untold story of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation is waiting to be captured on film. Between now and the end of November, undergraduates and graduates of the IU-Bloomington campus are eligible to submit videos on the “Real HPER.” The videos, which must be submitted by 5 p.m. Nov. 25, can be no longer than three minutes.

“The focus is on the School of HPER, and the idea is that HPER is not a gym. It’s a school,” said Debra Kent, executive director for the School of HPER. “What people don’t realize is we’re the third largest school on campus.”

There are 2,022 undergraduate and 363 graduate students involved in HPER programs.
For senior sports broadcasting major Alexis Hosier, the school of HPER is the perfect fit.

“It’s a really good school on campus,” Hosier said. “I would encourage anyone to pick a major in there because it’s fun, you learn a lot and the advisers are just unbelievably helpful. I love it. I’m glad to be graduating from there.”

Hosier is planning on creating a video for the contest. She figured the contest will be good experience for her major.

“Everyone that thinks of the School of HPER thinks it’s a joke – that the kids don’t have hard academics – but there’s really tough programs,” Hosier said. “I want to show that there are really hard programs. It really is an academic school on this campus.”

The contest was created to spread awareness of HPER as an academic school as well as a recreation center.

“HPER is overlooked in terms of its school,” said Tian Ming, coordinator of the contest. “We want to have a different look of the school.”

Videos should highlight the scholastic emphasis in the School of HPER and will also be judged on the ability to convey the story of HPER.

“The videos will be judged more for their creativity and fun and more for the message that HPER is more than a gym,” Ming said. “I think the content is more important.”

Hosier is keeping her eye on the prize while trying to portray her school properly.

“Yeah, you can take volleyball and racquetball there, but you can also take physiology,” Hosier said. “(The video) will show the harder things and the easier things and the fun things in the school of HPER.”