The 2024 John Allen Symposium will bring together students, alumni, guest presenters and honored guests of Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s recreation professions program for a day featuring career development, networking, awards and research discussion.
The event takes place Thursday, April 25, and begins with the symposium from 8 a.m. to noon, at Freeberg Hall in Camp 2 at Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center, located about 8 miles south of SIU off Giant City Road.
Media advisory
Reporters, photographers and news crews are welcome to cover the 2024 John Allen Symposium, set for 8 a.m. to noon and the afternoon Project and Research Forum from 2 to 4 p.m. April 25. For more information, contact Tina Colson, associate lecturer, at tcolson@siu.edu.
Connecting, honoring and sharing
Organizers anticipate about 100 current students, along with alumni, will participate in the free morning event that brings alumni from the program back to SIU to mentor current undergraduate and graduate students. Recreation and sport administration students will attend career development sessions presented by alumni from a wide variety of areas. Presenters representing various government agencies, park districts and more will speak. In addition, about a dozen alumni will lead Alumni Connect roundtable sessions to share their experiences.
An awards luncheon at Giant City State Park Lodge will follow the morning presentations and guest speakers will include the 2023 and 2024 Alumnus of the Year recipients, Eric Rabinowitz and June Price-Shingles, respectively.
Rabinowitz, a professor at Appalachian State University, is a double alumnus of SIU after earning his Doctor of Educational Philosophy and his master’s degree in recreation at the university. He has been published numerous times in the field of recreation and education and won a variety of teaching, scholastic and research awards.
Price-Shingles, director of the recreation program at Chicago State University, is also a double alumna of SIU with a bachelor’s degree in recreation administration and a master’s degree in workforce education; she also completed her doctorate in child youth and family studies at Nova Southeastern University. She has practiced in the field of parks and recreation as well as serving in various positions throughout academia. Under her leadership, the Chicago State recreation program was named one of the “Best of the Best” by the Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions.
The luncheon will also feature the presentation of awards to current program students.
Online registration for the luncheon is $25 per person by April 11.
New element added this year
A new addition to the 2024 symposium is a Project and Research Forum. Undergraduate and graduate students will present course projects and research studies related to sports and recreation in an open forum at Freeberg Hall from 2 to 4 p.m. with teaching assistants from the School of Human Sciences offering feedback. Amber Ruiz-Bueno, a doctoral candidate in population health, with assistance from Sandra Emberton, a master’s student in human sciences, will chair the event.
Members of the Student Recreation Society play a significant role in planning the symposium, which is organized by program graduate assistants and faculty. It is named for the late John R. Allen, who chaired the department from 1983 until his death in 1993.
For more information, contact Tina Colson, associate lecturer, at tcolson@siu.edu.
