Staff Highlight

Director of Rec Sports, Rick Hall, is retiring after more than 40 years with the department. The Virginia Tech alum first fell in love with intramural sports during his senior year of college before starting his career at Texas A&M Rec Sports as Assistant Director of Intramural Sports in September 1979 under the supervision of Dennis Corrington. After five years with intramurals, Rick agreed to a job rotation with a colleague and took responsibility for facilities in 1984, a time when Texas A&M University was experiencing phenomenal growth.

“We had a facility that had about seven basketball courts and when we would do intramural basketball, it was absolutely packed every night,” Hall said. “We as a staff at one of the retreats knew we needed to do something; we needed more space.” 

As the ‘80s continued, select universities across the country established their own rec centers, and this inspired Rick and Dennis to create their very own rec center in the heart of Texas A&M University. 

“There was this trend going on in the country, about five universities – UT was one, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA – it was becoming popular to build a rec center… and you did it by going to the students and have a referendum,” Rick Hall said. “We decided then that we needed to do a rec center, so we had to go to the students.”

The $36.4 million project was presented to the students of Texas A&M in the spring of 1987, which came to be the largest student body election of its time. The Student Rec Center was approved with an overwhelming majority and sent to the state capital to be codified into law, where it was signed by the governor in 1991.

“It’s (The Student Rec Center) a whole new door opened up to me, never done any projects before and now to work with Facilities, Planning, and Construction,” Rick Hall said. “I was a senior member of the facilities team; I was heavily involved in the design and all this process, so I was at every meeting.”

From the then Associate Director of Facilities, Rick would continue to show excellence in higher and higher positions at the Department of Recreational Sports over the next 20 years as the demands of the increasing student body required more and more action and responsibility. In that time, more staff would be added to the Department of Recreational Sports, the Student Rec Center would be expanded to over 400,000 square feet, and his mentor and friend Dennis Corrington would retire in 2018 after 45 years of service. 

As the presiding director, Rick oversaw departmental adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rec Sports app launch, the construction of the Polo Road Rec Center, the expansion of the Rec Sports minimum wage, and the creation of the Southside Rec Center. While his directorship has only spanned the last few years, his commitment and service to Texas A&M University and the Department of Rec Sports traverses decades of facility innovation, departmental adaptation, university-wide change, and compassionate leadership.

“I hate to use the term longevity, but my longevity, commitment, and, through all the changes and the growth we’ve seen, navigating the climate makes me pretty proud,” said Rick.

When asked about what he will miss the most about his career in Aggieland, Rick disclosed how homely Texas A&M Rec Sports came to be. What began as a fledgling organization operated by a close circle of colleagues has soared to accommodate multiple program areas, a thousand student workers, and dozens of full-time staff. From the late seventies, that pioneering generation of Rec Sports staff has developed alongside one another and guided those younger than them in the values of Texas A&M Rec Sports. This pioneering class has worked together, risen together, led together, and one by one, now retire together.

“I’ll miss the people,” said Rick. “This is almost a second family. Some of my best friends are here, some are retired or are about to. We were like glue.” He continued to go on and say, “I’ll miss the view, the access, and the awareness”.

In his retirement, Rick hopes to learn Spanish, play guitar, and spend time with his wife Mel, who he met at A&M during his time as the Assistant Director of Intramural Sports.