Going into this second project, our group decided to focus on a topic that is more fun, active, and something that we thought students would really enjoy learning more about. The one-unit racquetball class attracts a significant amount of students each quarter, but most students don’t know that their lecturer not only works outside of Cal Poly as a lieutenant with the SLO Police Department, but also freely volunteers his time to teach the class. With these interesting facts in mind, we decided to focus on Proll and how the racquetball class would not exist without him.
However, we did not start off thinking that this would be our focus. Initially, we wanted to talk about the role of volunteer lecturers in general and how they contribute to the Cal Poly environment. We were hoping to speak with administration and get a full outline of the qualifications, expectations, requirements, and logistics involved with volunteer part-time lecturers. What we quickly began to find is that very few people know anything about this position.
“We were unable to find a list or anyone in administration who was aware of how many volunteers there are. Because of this difficulty, we narrowed our story to focus more on Bill Proll and his racquetball class.” -Sophia Levin, print
Part of our inspiration came from a Mustang News story from back in 2007 on Bill Proll. It was exciting to learn that he has been volunteering for more than 20 years, allowing the racquetball class to go on. And when our group interviewed Proll, he showed no signs of quitting anytime soon.
“I don’t see any reason why I would stop,”
Proll told us when we interviewed him at the Recreation Center.
“Something might come up but I don’t plan on leaving here. I’ve worked for the police department now for 33 years so I don’t know how much longer I’ll do that but, this I would continue even after I retire from there.”
Our whole group was present for our interview with Proll which took place directly after he finished teaching his Monday morning racquetball class. Since we have a video component as part of this story, group member James Tweet worked with the Recreation Center to get permission to film inside.
“A lot of student journalists have had issues with reporting on the premise. I went in and explained my project and filled out a request form, it wasn’t anything too gnarly. When we went in to film, there was some bureaucracy we had to deal with to talk to the highest person in charge available at the time. Besides that, it was pretty straightforward, a little intimidating at times, but totally I respect and understand their cautiousness because of student liability.” -James Tweet, broadcast
Once inside, James, and fellow group members Amanda Newell and Sophia Levin, photographed and filmed students playing racquetball and had Proll demonstrate some of his skills.
“Interviewing Bill Proll was great. It can be intimidating to have four journalism students filming and interviewing you, but I felt that he really opened up to us by the end of his interview and shared great insight about his last 20 years here at Cal Poly.” -Amanda Newell, multimedia
Amanda and Sophia interviewed a few students who stayed after class to get their thoughts on Proll and his volunteer work. We left the Recreation Center with great footage, photos, and successful interviews. Not only did we learn a thing or two, but this project proved to be fun as well!