The Recreation Association was a student organization created in 1941 for the purpose of managing and overseeing intermural athletics as well as other recreational activities on the University campus. The recreation program was divided into four leagues based on residence halls and named for four popular campus figures: Harriet Elliott, Louise Alexander, Charles W. Phillips, and Key L. Barkley. Each year, hundreds of students participated in a variety of sports and activities including basketball, dance, golf, and swimming. Prior to the creation of Recreation Association, sports at the University were managed by the student Athletic Association, created in 1900. It actively recruited members to take part in a variety of athletic competitions including basketball and tennis. Class teams were formed, each with their own cheers. While most of the competitions took places between classes, there is evidence that some basketball and tennis games were played against local schools like Guilford and Greensboro Colleges. In the early 1970s, intermural sports on campus were still divided along gender lines with female sports being organized by the Recreation Association. However, in the mid-1970s the Recreation Association's control over intramural sports shifted with the establishment of the Division of Campus Recreation and Intramural Sports under the School of Health Education and Recreation. This change brought male and female intramural sports under one director and subsequently brought an end to the Recreation Association.

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