Outdoor Campus Recreation, Well-Being, and the Intersectionality of Constraints

The experiences university students have during outdoor recreation opportunities have holistic benefits, yet there is a sizeable discrepancy in the representation of marginalized students in outdoor campus recreation. The structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal constraints that marginalized students experience are often cited as a reason for this reduced participation. It is possible that viewing these constraints individually is an oversimplification. In the same way that a student has an intersection of identities, so too can constraints intersect to compound and multiply barriers to participation. If we wish to have a more just university community, in which all students can experience the benefits of outdoor recreation, we must think critically about the intersectionality of constraints that hinder these students from fully participating and take action to address them. Subscribe to JOREL

Are They Athletes? A Self-Assessment of Athletic Identity Measurement and Perceived Benefits of Collegiate Esports Participants

Collegiate esports is a rapidly growing entity that is managed differently across campuses, with oversight taking place in athletic departments, campus recreation departments, student affairs, and to a lesser degree, academic departments. Esports has the potential to support the recruitment and retention of students while supporting the academic mission of universities through co-curricular opportunities in a variety of subject areas. Despite the broad existence of peer-reviewed research debating the consideration of esports as a sport, limited research is available that asks esports participants if they view themselves as athletes. A total of 120 participants completed a survey instrument that included items from the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale-Plus and the Quality and Importance of Recreational Services instruments. From the collegiate esports players included in this research, we see a complex picture of student-athletes emerging.

An Examination of Social Capital in Outdoor Orientation Programs

Social capital offers campus recreation professionals a framework to conceptualize the impacts of outdoor orientation programming (OOPs). Using data from The Outdoor Orientation Benchmarking Survey (TOOBS), researchers explored results of participants’ ( n = 1,154) responses to two constructs conceptually related to social capital: group trust and network closure. Researchers used factor analysis to examine the psychometric properties of TOOBS, finding group trust and network closure represented different aspects of social capital. Results of the study confirms trust and network closure are related, yet unique aspects of the social capital construct. The results provide an empirically-supported measure for evaluating social capital in outdoor orientation programs.

How Constraints to Campus Recreation Participation Differ Based on Activity Type, Gender, and Citizenship

The purpose of this study was to explore the differential effects of constraints on participation in three different types of campus recreation (i.e., intramural sports, drop-in sports, fitness center), and how constraints differ based on gender and citizenship. Data were collected from undergraduate students ( n = 344) using a questionnaire at a large university in Ontario, Canada and analyzed using logistic regression and Mann–Whitney U. Non-participation in intramurals was associated with not knowing how to get involved, drop-in sports with not knowing enough people to participate, and fitness center with feeling uncomfortable exercising in public. Women and men did not differ in the ten constraints measured in the study. International students were more constrained than domestic students by feeling as though the recreation facilities were inaccessible. Implications for practice are discussed.

Exploring Inclusion of College Students With IDD in Campus Recreation Through the Lens of Recreation Departments’ Organizational Level Stakeholders

Participation in recreation can produce health benefits for all college students and open pathways to inclusion for individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). Despite the growing number of college students with IDD on over 260 college campuses across the United States, there is a dearth of literature exploring their inclusion within campus recreation. This study examined how organizational culture of campus recreation departments and inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) programs support and inhibit inclusion of college students with IDD. A constructivist qualitative case study design, which was instrumental and collective, was used with two universities in the Eastern Time Zone and one university in the Central Time Zone of the United States. A document review and individual interviews with administrative and frontline staff were conducted with each campus recreation department. An iterative and comparative process of analysis was utilized and included the use of poetic analysis. The results of this study revealed a critical need to assess and examine the inclusion of these students within campus life at large.