The Neoliberal Assault on the Public University: The Case of Recreation, Park, and Leisure Research

Public universities face critical challenges in terms of teaching, researching, and providing service. Funding mechanisms for various departments, programs. and professors have become increasingly intertwined with market-driven forces in light of neoliberal political and economic philosophies. lit this essay, we illuminate neoliberalism and its multiple influences hi university recreation, parks, and leisure studies departments. In noting classical theories of leisure and the deleterious aspects of neoliberalism, we encourage researchers, teachers, administrators, and students to resist these prevalent cultural trends, evoking a normative role for universities hi the provision of a liberal education.