Does Race Matter? Understanding the role of social connectedness in student retention in hospitality programs

The recruitment and retention of ethnic minority students lies at the core of diversity efforts instituted by colleges and universities across the U.S. Withstanding the changing racial demographics in the U.S. and the need to have qualified ethnic minority professionals serving diverse communities, retention and matriculation heighten in importance. With the recruitment and retention challenge that many predominately White institutions (PWI’s) face in mind, this study aimed to understand how “social connectedness” related to retaining African-American students in a hospitality management program. Focus groups were utilized to chronicle the lived experience of African-American students. The findings suggest that the following factors play an important role in the retention of African American students: (1) being connected to the program, university community, and other ethnic minority students; (2) the depth and quality of relationships with faculty

Citizen Engagement in Aquatics Equity: The Case of Winston Waterworks

Historically, swimming pools have been a source of inequity when it comes to the distribution of recreation services in the United States. Many of the problems that correlate with the inequitable allocation of recreation resources including public swimming pools began with ideas about race, geography, poor planning practices and faulty policymaking (Rothstein, 2017). Moreover, one of the primary outcomes of engaged, inclusive planning is equity in the provision of recreation programs and facilities. In this essay, we offer a summary of key legal cases that help address questions related resource allocation related to public swimming pools. Finally, we present a short case study on the Winston Water Works Project in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This case illustrates the power of grassroots level advocacy, engaged community planning, and policymaking that protects the recreation infrastructure in a community and moves the needle of social justice toward equity. Our principle interest in this paper is in the equitable provision and distribution of aquatics programming and facilities

Physical Activity Levels during Therapeutic Camp Activities in Youth with Disabilities in the United States

Youth with developmental disabilities (DD) face challenges that may impact their participation in physical activity. One of the biggest challenges is the availability of opportunities to engage in activities that are adapted for youth with DD. In addition, due to challenges with current physical activity assessment methods for youth with DD, the activity levels during modified activities remain unclear. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the activity levels of youth with DD during structured and unstructured activities offered during a therapeutic camp. This camp was a five-day, overnight experience in an outdoor camp center in the southeastern region of the U.S. Youth (n = 29; 14.6 ± 3.9 years) with more than one DD and with varying abilities wore accelerometers while they engaged in 13 activities of varying categories (functional/gross motor, game, sociodramatic, fine motor, free play) and contexts (ropes, horses, outdoor adventure, music and movement, yoga, come on down, sports and games, theatre, cabin challenge, arts, cooking, mad science, free play). Activity level varied by activity category and context and the intensity level of the majority of the camp activities was classified as either sedentary or light. There was a time course effect on activity; most activities resulted in a gradual decline over the session, except for cooking, sports and games, and free play. This therapeutic camp provided an opportunity for youth to engage in physical activity that would be classified as light intensity. The activities available at this camp were designed to address specific goals and objectives and provided enrichment opportunities (e.g., life skills, social skills) for youth to obtain multiple skills while using movement as a framework to deliver the content