COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M University’s department of park, recreation and tourism sciences has begun a new leadership and diversity initiative led by the former director of the National Park Service.
Robert Stanton, who served as National Park Service director from 1996 to 2001, is leading a new diversity initiative with Texas A&M University's department of park, recreation and tourism sciences - part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. (Texas Agricultural Experiment Station photo by Blair Fannin)
Robert Stanton, who served as director from 1996-2001, is in residence this fall leading an initiative that focuses on minority and under-represented communities. The initiative will provide an in-depth look at their relationship to resource conservation and recreational activities, including national parks and preserves. The initiative also focuses on youth and how parks services can promote involvement in conservation and historic preservation.
Leading field experts and scholars specializing in parks and tourism, and race and ethnicity will be visiting the university throughout the fall semester.
“Always in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences we’ve traditionally spent time in rural areas, but not so much in the urban setting,” said Dr. Joe O’Leary, department head. “Having someone like Bob is tremendous. We’re excited about ratcheting up new ideas, and getting kids involved in conservation and in our parks.”
Stanton was the first African-American to serve as National Park Service director since its establishment in 1916. A native of Fort Worth, Stanton grew up in Mosier Valley, one of the oldest communities in Texas founded by African Americans.
“I’m overjoyed to be here,” he said. “It’s critically important that we be responsive to conservation and the needs of a multicultural society. There’s still a disconnect with some of our parks programs that serve communities. We need to be continually looking at ways to strengthen relationships with diverse cultures and most certainly the involvement of our youth in parks and conservation programs.”
Stanton will teach a graduate course on the national parks system, and also work with faculty, graduate and undergraduate students interested in research on urban parks and minority communities. The initiative will feature a variety of activities, including departmental seminars that focus on urban parks and park policy, planning and management, and speakers from the National Park Service, state parks and non-profit conservation agencies.
“One of the passions I have is to increase the number of youth involved in conservation and historical preservation,” Stanton said, “not only with college youth, but from K through 12 and helping them acquire an understanding and appreciation of their own cultural heritage.”
He said through the years he had worked with several professors in the department while serving as National Park Service director. Stanton will be working with the Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, which is hosted by Texas A&M and supported by the National Park Service through a liaison position based on campus.
The unit is one of 15 units hosted by major academic institutions across the United States and are cooperative partnerships between academic institutions, federal agencies and non-profit organizations.
“We feel we have the best program in the country right now,” O’Leary said. “We feel we have to be the leader in providing some direction. We also have a responsibility to the students in building up their skills.”
Stanton referred to the importance of diversity in the international arena, which was a focus at the fifth International Union for the Protection of Nature World Parks Congress. He cited a quote by Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela that describes the importance of youth involvement in park and tourism sciences:
“The future is in the hands of our youth and if it doesn’t involve them in conservation management, we will not succeed in our efforts to save nature and humanity.”
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