Department of Therapeutic Recreation continues to grow

The Therapeutic Recreation department was started under the direction of Clifford T. Seymour in 1955 and received a grant from the Special Education department in 1972 when they became the Therapeutic Recreation and Leisure Studies department.
The department started as a consortium with Jackson State and Grambling State University to form a model TR training department for African Americans.
Since then the TR department has been expanding. In the last three to four years it has grown from 35 undergraduate majors to approximately 350.
The last few years the department has had an average of 70 students to graduate per year out of the department.
Within the last two to three years 80 to 90 percent of the students that start the Therapeutic Recreation and Leisure studies program completes it.
“Our department is innovative and constantly changing to meet the changing demands of the profession,” Rosie Turner, an advisor and instructor for the department said.
All TR majors must do a semester intern their senior year before graduation, which helps them to get a feel for the work force and better their chances of getting a job.
Most of the Therapeutic Recreation majors receive jobs teaching or working in rehabilitation hospitals after graduation starting out with an average pay of $27,000 to $35,000 a year.
“We feel that our occupation is essential to everyday life. The work world hours are shorter today therefore it affords more leisure time and that’s when it becomes the responsibility of the recreation professionals,” said Mel Robinson, director of intramural sports.
President Zakiyyah Abdul-Aleem and the Therapeutic Recreation and Leisure Studies Society just recently organized a wheelchair basketball game in the women’s gym, which is only one of several events that the department organizes.
“I just enjoy helping to bring happiness to others, that is why I and many others choose this field to study,” said Abdul-Aleem.