Keeping Carolina energized

Thousands of Carolina students, staff and faculty owe their improved health to Lauren Mangili, who was the only female and only full-time professional on a five-person staff when she became Carolina’s associate director of campus recreation in 1995.

Since then, Mangili has taught just about every kind of fitness class from high-energy aerobics to pilates, ensured that the Student Recreation Center and Rams Head Center are staffed and maintained, overseen business operations and developed campus partnerships.

“Our staff is really balanced now with men and women, particularly in our sport clubs and intramurals,” Mangili said. “It’s more holistic with different types of training, and awesome students come through here.”

Over the years, Mangili has hired about 3,000 students, many of them women who go on to graduate school, research or opening their own businesses.

“I’m excited to see how they develop and where their career takes them,” she said. “They’ve definitely got a lot of experience, not just with different training modalities and what’s most effective, but also how to motivate people and their communication style.”

As an undergraduate at the University of Arizona in the 1980s, she realized that she did not want to work in a hospital or in health care, where many of her female classmates were headed. “I was more interested in keeping people healthy so they would not have to take advantage of those services, so I went back to school for my master’s in health promotion and exercise science,” she said.

Mangili had mentors, mostly male coaches. She has taken the best from them and developed her own brand of inspiration for young women she encounters as student employees or in the fitness industry. She’s also tried out variations with her three sons and husband.

“I love the energy at Carolina, and the pride that people take in what we do keeps me motivated and inspired,” Mangili said.