The outdoor industry continual deals with the stigma of the outdoors being wild and unsafe. This certainly doesn’t help.
The Penn State Outing Club, originally founded in 1920, announced last week that the university will no longer allow the club to organize outdoor, student-led trips starting next semester. The hiking, camping and other outdoors-focused activities the student-led club has long engaged in are now deemed too risky, the university’s offices of Student Affairs and Risk Management determined. In other words, officials at Penn State believe it is too dangerous for today’s youth to go into the wilderness.
Penn State reportedly conducted a “proactive risk assessment” that failed to take into consideration the near-100 years of data and information from the club’s past, such as any previous participant injuries, or so said University spokeswoman Lisa Powers. She said Outing Club activities were rated high risk because they take place in remote environments with poor cell service and distance from emergency services. Student safety is the school’s primary focus, said Powers in a statement. (Interesting, we thought the “primary focus” was to educate kids.)
Richard Waltz, the Outing Club’s current president, said that the decision was made by an office that never consulted them. The decision was based on a two-month review that didn’t include consultation with student leaders at any of the clubs deemed too risky, according to students.
The Penn State Outing Club posted a “Special Announcement” today in the hope of clarifying what it says are “misleading and false statements,” made by Penn State officials.
Two other outdoor recreation clubs — the spelunking Nittany Grotto Caving Club and the Nittany Divers SCUBA Club — also have been directed to end trip offerings.
“Safety is a legitimate concern, but it wasn’t an open dialogue,” Waltz said.
Christina Platt, the Outing Club’s incoming president, said, “I can hardly blame Penn State for protecting itself against further litigation after a number of high-profile scandals in the past decade.”
Penn State still will offer a university-operated outdoors trip program, Powers said. The university-run program costs much more for students, Waltz contended.
Powers said Penn State staff members are meeting with student leaders about the transition and how the university might still support each group’s goals.
