Jan. 15, 2024 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo In 2023, the College of Applied Health Sciences chose four AHS graduates to receive alumni awards. These awards serve as a testament to the unwavering dedication and great contributions of our graduates. Young Alumni AwardMichael LeachRecreation, Sport and Tourism Michael Leach was appointed as the first-ever chief diversity and […]
Category: Recreation, Sport, and Tourism
Pritzker to RST students: Stay in Illinois
Feb. 6, 2024 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker encouraged University of Illinois students to live and work in his home state If there is one thing Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker knows about, it’s hospitality. A member of the family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker on Jan. 25 gave the opening remarks […]
RST Ph.D. student helps student-athletes find belonging, in and out of his research
Dec. 10, 2024 | Ethan Simmons Solomon Siskind is investigating what it’s like to be a Black student-athlete at a predominantly white institution and how being part of a racial affinity group affects their life on campush Solomon Siskind is living a double life at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign—two lives that are finely intertwined. […]
Fredericks: How Black American Distance Runners Shaped the Sport From the Shadows
February 29, 2024 | Ethan Simmons The world of competitive long-distance running took off in the 1970s. But stories of the sport’s Black architects and pioneers who laid its foundation have been largely untold for decades. Teaching Assistant Professor Jake Fredericks in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois has […]
Pritzker connects tourism, recreation to state’s economic boom
May 03, 2024 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo If there is one thing Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker knows about, it’s hospitality. A member of the family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker on Jan. 25 gave the opening remarks for the Sapora Symposium—organized by the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois […]
Outdoor Recreation Consortium: An RST trip to the Smokies—for class credit
May 01, 2024 | Ethan Simmons Kiara Frausto thinks she might’ve been “kind of spoiled” in her first visit to a national park. That’s because the University of Illinois junior was treated to a week full of hands-dirty field research at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute—where students banded birds, caught salamanders and listened to Appalachian […]
A new fellowship for a groundbreaking leisure researcher
May 23, 2025 | Ethan Simmons As a graduate student, Liza Berdychevsky didn’t expect much fanfare when she first visited a Leisure Research Symposium as a “future scholar,” on behalf of The Academy of Leisure Sciences (TALS). In 2008, she was completing her master’s program and searching for a university to complete her doctorate. Yet […]
RST internship: Jonathan Oliveira
Oct. 22, 2024 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo This summer, RST Illinois Ph.D. candidate Jonathan R. Oliveira had the opportunity to serve as a stadium competition analyst for Copa América at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. In his role, Jonathan was responsible for implementing and monitoring operations activities directly related to matches, press conferences, and stadium familiarization of all the national soccer teams […]
Beebe hopes to make MLB his future home
Oct. 21, 2024 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo For someone who wants to work in baseball in the future, Nate Beebe had a dream internship this summer. Beebe, now a senior in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, spent his summer interning at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Beebe was one […]
Will the 2024 Olympic Games become the playing field for social justice protests?
Oct. 21, 2024 | Sharita Forrest RST Assistant Professor Yannick Kluch studies sport as a platform for promoting social justice. Kluch has worked with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, USA Diving and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He spoke with research editor Sharita Forrest about the history of Olympic athletes’ social justice protests and governing organizations’ efforts to […]