Aug. 20, 2024 | Sam Rink
The Hall of Fame tour that serves as the essence of the Recreation, Sport and Tourism 180 experiential course has been the subject of much discussion since it was introduced in 2016.
The 12-day excursion component of the course—led by RST Clinical Associate Professor Mike Raycraft—spans more than 2,000 miles and has drawn attention from local news channels, magazines and newspapers over the years. Students visit notable tourism sites including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Baseball Hall of Fame and the NFL Hall of Fame as well as historic destinations in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
But what makes the course so beloved by its participants? Students who took the course and went on the spring 2024 trip along with a few RST professionals who lead tours on the trip weighed in.
For Axel Mueller, a sophomore studying sport management, getting to know other students was what made RST 180 truly special.
“I was able to meet so many other people within the RST department and get a better understanding of the recreation and tourism side, because at school, I don’t ever see those people much.”
Mueller recalled one of the trip’s hiccups where the lift on their charter bus broke down during a rainy day in New York. The group had stopped for lunch at the famed Anchor Bar, the birthplace of Buffalo chicken wings, and on the way out the lift that was supposed to help Kendall Speaks, an RST major and wheelchair basketball team member, get onto the bus broke, leaving the group stuck in a parking lot for more than an hour.
“I had to squat down, have her wrap her arms around my neck, pick her up, and then carry her to her seat on the bus,” Mueller said. “Of course, Dr. Raycraft was able to arrange another bus that day.”
It was that type of attitude, from Mueller and others in the group, that turned what could have been a deeply frustrating situation into a humorous anecdote, and the tour continued without major issues after that point.
Another aspect of the course Mueller appreciated was getting the opportunity to talk to experts in his prospective field of sports management.
“It definitely opened my eyes a little bit—there’s so many things I can do with a sport management major,” he said. “I would say it broadened my perspective rather than narrowed it.”
Carter Blount, another sophomore in RST, put his perspective on the tour plainly:
“Professor Raycraft makes the trip,” he said. “ He’s done this for so long. He knows all these people and has crazy connections, and he definitely makes it enjoyable.”
Blount went on Raycraft’s spring break study abroad course to London, and despite the exhausting overnight flight and packed schedule, he enjoyed it and was influenced to enroll in the RST 180 course for the second half of the semester. Blount wasn’t alone in this; he said around 20 students who went to London that spring also enrolled in RST 180 this year.
A few fond memories for Blount included cramming into one hotel room with everyone to watch the NBA playoffs, walking the Princeton campus at night where he coincidentally met a student who had gone to the same high school as he did, and watching the sun set over the lake in Cooperstown, New York.
“I can’t think of a single night where I wasn’t in someone else’s room,” Blount said, referring to the close-knit evenings the group spent together after the day’s tours were done.
Todd Marshall
RST student
Blount spoke about the positive experiences the group had with their hosts, with the students who were able to ask questions about internships, careers and their own experiences breaking into the industry. He also discussed how the class itself enhances the trip, saying “you spent eight weeks studying the places you’re going to visit, so it’s cool to go see them all at the end.”
Todd Marshall, an RST graduate student at the University of Illinois, had a slightly different experience than the other students on the trip. As a graduate student working closely with Raycraft, he got an inside look at what it takes to organize and deliver experiential learning opportunities that will serve him well as he enters the field. Marshall was heartened by the large number of alumni they connected with at the locations they visited, taking the opportunity to learn from people not much older than him who successfully made it in the sport management industry.
“It reaffirms my perspective that there are Illinois people everywhere, but also in places you would never think of,” Marshall said. “It’s a reminder to just keep my eyes open and look for connections wherever I can find them.”
Chris Willis first met Raycraft in 2019, while he was doing research for his book on Red Grange, an Illinois alum who played for the Chicago Bears from 1929 to 1934 and is one of the most famous NFL players of the 20th century. When they met, Raycraft mentioned the tour, leading Willis to offer his expertise as head archivist at NFL Films in New Jersey. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic preventing the addition to the tour for a few years, eventually students were able to visit the studio, libraries and research facilities at the headquarters.
“We provided an overview and general information about what NFL Films does, and the facility is a big part of that,” Willis said. “We have everything under one roof.”
Willis is no stranger to hosting tours at the facility, saying they have around five or six per year, usually with friends or family of employees or groups of students like the ones from the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism. Willis confessed he enjoys leading student tours the most, saying he prefers “talking to a younger crowd.”
“Some of the subjects we study are between 50 and 100 years old, so it’s fun to interact with younger students or fans and show them what we do or talk to them about NFL history or the history of NFL films,” he said.
The highlight of the tour was the studio, according to Willis. Many students, sports fans themselves, recognized the place where many of the NFL’s talk shows are filmed and enjoyed seeing the back end of their favorite sports productions.
Mark Thomas found his love for working at parks while working at a summer camp in Rockford as a teen. After graduating from the department of Parks and Recreation (now RST) in 1975, he managed the grounds of a college campus for seven years until it closed. For a long time, Thomas found jobs outside of the industry, doing work in consulting, retail and politics before he was able to work his way back into parks, where he was asked to host RST 180 at Niagara Falls in 2016. At that point, he had been serving as the western regional director of state parks in New York since 2007, with a main office in Niagara Falls.
“I have a tremendous amount of experience,” Thomas said. “The students have a lot of great questions about the park, and so I’m able to elaborate on that for them.”
When the RST 180 students first arrived at Niagara Falls at night, the lights (a $4 million system whose installation Thomas took part in overseeing) shined orange and blue to welcome the tour, an experience cited by many students who went on the trip. They saw the natural landscape and participated in the Maid of the Mist boat tour offered by the American side of the park. Thomas said the students were curious and engaged with the tour, regarding both the history of the falls and the logistics behind managing them.
“They love the tourist experience—who wouldn’t, right? It’s a great experience, but they also embrace the learning aspect of the visit as well.”
Grace Burns, a senior majoring in statistics and minoring in RST with hopes to go into sports analytics post-graduation, was excited by the prospect of the course but admitted to feeling anxious about going on a long trip with complete strangers. Her worries ended up being unfounded.
“Going into it not knowing anyone, I was definitely really nervous,” she said. “I was like ‘Oh my gosh, what did I get myself into?’ But I met so many people. I’m almost glad I didn’t go with my friends because it allowed me to branch out more.”
Burns’ favorite memories from the trip include a night she and several other members of the tour went out for karaoke in Albany, and listening to a panel at the NCAA headquarters where she was able to speak to someone with a career in sports analytics and recordkeeping.
“That’s what initially got me into sports analytics,” she said. “I love all the records in sports, especially baseball—there seems to be a stat for everything. So, it was really neat to hear from him.”
RST 180 exemplifies the passion for educating, events and entertainment, and accommodating all who travel, whether they are sports fans, history buffs, or national park enthusiasts. The class and tour provide a unique experience for students that puts them on both sides of this transaction.
“I would encourage everyone to look into the class even if you’re not RST affiliated and even if you don’t know anyone,” Burns said. “It sounds clichéd, but it was really awesome, even if you’re not into sports.”
