Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of campus recreational sports facilities and programs on student recruitment and retention among male and female African American students. A convenience sample of students from classes in the Department of Health and Human Performance at a small, southeastern, private, historically black college and university was used in the study. The instrument consisted of a modified version of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association's Quality and Importance of Recreational Services Survey. An independent samples t test was used to test for differences between gender and the recruitment and retention questions, alpha = .05. It was determined that 60% of the male students reported that the availability of recreational sports was important/very important in deciding to attend the college and 68% of the men reported that the availability of recreational sports was important/very important in deciding to continue attending the college. Men scored higher than women when it came to importance of the availability of recreational facilities and programs in deciding to attend the school, the importance of the availability of recreational facilities and programs in deciding to continue at the school, how important sports and fitness activities will be to them after graduation, and the total times per week they participate in active recreational sports pursuits. Although there are limitations to the study, the results provide further evidence that students report that the availability of recreational sports facilities and programs has an impact on both their decisions to attend and remain at an institution. This is a finding that can only serve to increase the practitioner's understanding of those who use such facilities and programs. More studies are needed to further examine the impact of campus recreational facilities and programs on African American students.
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