Outing Club will press on but only with on-campus activities
Club and the Nittany Divers SCUBA Club — because a university safety assessment of all 76 student sport and club organizations judged the three clubs’ trips to forests, caves and bodies of water too risky.
The assessment was not based on any reports of club member injuries while hiking, caving or diving. The university then raised an allegation of student alcohol use on trips, but leaders of all three clubs denied the charges and the university has not provided any details, incident reports or corroborating evidence.
“We think this is a reasonable next step” to continue the club’s legacy as the center of the outdoor community on campus, said Christina Platt, Outing Club president. “… We think it is important to remain an on-campus presence to connect students to other students who love the outdoors and we will continue to host events on campus to do so.”
On a longer timeline, Ms. Platt said the club will work with the university’s Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management department to eventually reinstate student-led trips and create a national model for how university outing clubs can be managed.
“Faculty in the department are excited to explore potential models that will allow qualified students to continue to volunteer their time as leaders under the guidance of top researchers in outdoor pursuits,” she said.
The Nittany Divers club has indicated it is also agreeable to continuing operations under a “new model” that would allow it to continue as an informational, educational and social organization, but not one that provides trips.
The Nittany Grotto Caving Club, the student organization formed in 1948, was the third club disbanded by the university but was not initially offered the opportunity to reorganize.
But Thursday morning the university’s Student Affairs office contacted the community-based Nittany Grotto Inc., established in 2008 and affiliated with the student caving club, about forming an “interest group.”
“We’re mulling it over,” said Abbe Hamilton, newsletter editor for the community caving club. “Could it be a powerful recruitment tool? Will it be a drain? Will it empower student leaders? Our active student members are discussing it.”
In an earlier email, Ms. Hamilton said the community cave club’s involvement with the university had caused curtailed activities, “a strangling-level of red tape” and reduced student access and enjoyment.
But in that same email she also expressed concerns about student recruitment and involvement if the caving club was removed from the formal list of student clubs.
Meanwhile, two petitions, one started by a club member and another by an alum of the school, asking that the Outing Club be allowed to continue leading outdoor trips have attracted more than 9,500 supporter signatures.