Three weeks before I graduate, Penn State shut down the ‘outing’ part of the Outing Club, the third oldest outing club in the nation. During my freshman year, I struggled to relate to the dominant Penn State culture, but I found a home in the Outing Club. I made genuine friends over campfires and backpacking trips instead of on campus with smartphones and frat parties. PSOC gave me the skills to take on the mountains and the confidence to take on the world.
And I am not alone in this. Over the past two weeks, current members and alumni joined in the almost 13,000 signatures decorating two online petitions and shared their stories: The club received over 300 accounts of the friendship and community found within PSOC. These memories – including campfires, canoe trips and chicken suits – helped generations of Penn State students explore the outdoors while learning leadership. PSOC gives students the tools, training, and mentorship to develop responsible decision-making skills that mitigate the inherent risk of going into the backcountry.
What is the history of PSOC and this decision? In 2004, Penn State transferred most of PSOC’s financial assets and all of its gear to form Adventure Recreation (now called Outdoor Adventures) to offer the same services as PSOC. In 2004, the Outing Club became a club sport, and students continued to lead trips with oversight, while Adventure Recreation paid guides to run trips. The two models differ in cost: This past year, PSOC successfully ran 12 trips into the woods while charging a fraction of the price of an Outdoor Adventure overnight backpacking trip.
This year, Campus Recreation, the umbrella organization that governs all club sports and Outdoor Adventures, decided the risks presented by PSOC activities are unacceptable. This decision was informed by a risk assessment they conducted, that was not released to the public. A risk assessment does not simply include the calculated probabilities of accidents happening: It also takes into account the severity and the value of the program’s outcomes. Therefore, a risk assessment is based on subjective values, not objective statistics. By not releasing the assessment, Penn State obscures the value judgment made in this decision.
Of course, backpacking trips carry some element of risk, but so does most everything we do. Driving to the trailhead is the most dangerous part of every PSOC trip, but we all choose to take that risk every time we get in a car. Penn State should assess all student activities across campus. Let’s discuss the hazing that 80 percent of fraternity members experience and the 656 drug violations and 185 other alcohol related crimes at Penn State in 2017. Let’s discuss concussions in football and other contact sports. Let’s talk about the 63 sex-related offenses reported at Penn State in 2017. Let’s hold all activities to the same standard.
Risk likely was not the only factor in the decision. By transitioning volunteer student-led sports like PSOC out of the Campus Recreation-administered model, Penn State stated that it wanted to reduce the duplication of resources. This streamlining may reduce the cost of insurance for Campus Recreation and cause students to use and pay for their services directly. Campus Recreation initiated, conducted, and benefited directly from disbanding the Outing Club, while PSOC suffered and was not part of the process.
PSOC cannot be reorganized into Outdoor Adventures and maintain the same service to the Penn State community. Outdoor Adventures is fundamentally different than PSOC: PSOC is a volunteer-based student-organization while Outdoor Adventures is a guide-service run by Penn State staff. PSOC provides a supportive community where older members mentor younger students to develop outdoor and leadership skills. A one-off guide-client relationship is the norm in Outdoor Adventures whereas a supportive, welcoming community is created through PSOC.
Recently, Penn State instituted new policies for fraternities and several suspensions with the intent of fixing the system while not ending Greek life. Let’s fix PSOC too, rather than ending its student-led trips. I believe a compromise can be made by combining the community-based structure of PSOC with increased trip leader training, like the Dartmouth Outing Club and Wisconsin Hoofer Outing Club. (Everyone in PSOC would love more training!)
At the core, this decision reflects a dissonance between Penn State’s stated values and their action. The path to this decision does not reflect the University’s Ethical Decision Making Model, a tool created to help faculty, staff, and students make difficult decisions. Penn State should live up to its own values by demonstrating transparent and equitable leadership. A campus-wide independent risk assessment should be completed and made public for everyone to see and discuss. Penn State should bring together all stakeholders and experts on the issue, including students, faculty, and the community. We must discuss whether our outdoor recreation model truly develops student leadership and is accessible to everyone.
Damon Simms (Vice President for Student Affairs) just agreed to have a meeting with students and all stakeholders; let’s make it happen. Now is the time for Penn State to show us how Ethical Decision Making works.
This article first appeared in The Underground.
