April 09, 2026 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo DRES staff, coaches and athletes stress importance of funding, accessibility U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Illinois) spent part of her Tuesday on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she toured Disability Resources and Educational Services and met with some of the coaches and athletes behind its nationally […]
Category: Recreation, Sport, and Tourism
RST: A history of Black American runners at the Boston Marathon
Feb. 26, 2026 | Ethan Simmons A new essay from a Recreation, Sport and Tourism professor shows these runners “shaping their own destinies” on a premier stage of the sport. The Boston Marathon’s first known Black finishers. The first Black American to run the marathon in the Olympics. A charismatic road race organizer who ran […]
Wheelchair athletes lead Illinois’ first Adaptive Rec Day, inviting campus to play and pay it forward
Feb. 26, 2026 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo Illinois hosts inaugural Adaptive Rec Day, expanding disability sports awareness It wasn’t even 11 a.m. and Gym 2 at the Activities and Recreation Center on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was already buzzing. Illinois’ first annual Adaptive Rec Day had just begun, drawing students, faculty and […]
Study: Access to parks linked with greater physical activity for some, but not all, residents
Jan. 15, 2026 | Tia King CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new two-year study found that U.S. residents who lived near parks and recreational facilities had small increases in their leisure-time physical activities, but the relationship was stronger in more affluent counties with largely white, non-Hispanic populations. Mikihiro Sato, a professor of recreation, sport and tourism at the […]
Social identification with a team boosts fans’ social well-being
Nov. 6, 2025 | Tia King Sport teams and other organizations can boost their supporters’ social well-being through digital platforms and other initiatives that promote a strong group identity and feelings of trust that all members have their collective best interests at heart, according to a study led by recreation, sport and tourism professor Yuhei […]
Online Allies: How Black travelers view DMO social advocacy statements
Oct. 30, 2025 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo Did digital gestures from destination marketing organizations resonate with Black travelers? In the summer of 2020, when streets across the U.S. filled with protests for racial and social justice, something unusual happened in the world of tourism. Destination marketing organizations—better known as DMOs—suddenly became vocal online allies. Their Instagram […]
Tattoos as anchors of transformative travel
Oct. 27, 2025 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo A new RST study examines how tattoos from memorable trips continue to ‘speak’ over time At the intersection of body art and travel lies a fascinating phenomenon: tattoos serving as anchors of transformative experiences. A new study from Recreation, Sport and Tourism faculty members Toni Liechty and Joelle Soulard, […]
A friendship forged in RST: Dan Bernstein and Alex Roux’s journey at Illinois
Oct. 27, 2025 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo For Dan Bernstein and Alex Roux, the University of Illinois was more than just a place to study—it was the setting for a friendship that would shape their student years and ripple into their careers Both arrived on campus passionate about Illini sports, uncertain of exactly where their paths […]
Teaching the next ‘champions for change’ in sport
Oct. 24, 2025 | Ethan Simmons This Recreation, Sport and Tourism course brought together undergrads and local high school student-athletes, to understand how sport can produce positive social change. A new Recreation, Sport and Tourism course—Inclusive Champions for Change through Sport, or IC-ChangeS for short—is challenging Illinois students to understand how sports can provide a […]
Remembering Ron Dodd, a leader in public parks and recreation
Oct. 27, 2025 | Laura Payne RST alumni fondly remember a leader in the field Ron Dodd, former director of the Joliet Park District and an RST alumnus, passed away on July 31, 2025, at the age of 84. Dodd was a leader and educator in public parks and recreation and the embodiment of a […]