An outing club or outdoors club is a

student society A student society, student association, university society, student club, university club, or student organization is a society or an organization, operated by students at a university or a college institution, whose membership typically consists ...

centered on

outdoor recreation Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environment they are being carried out in. These activitie ...

. Outing clubs provide their members with the planning, training, access, and equipment necessary to enjoy these activities.

Origins

Some students' unions began planning wilderness outings in the late nineteenth century in response to the early American conservation movement. In 1909, students at New Hampshire's Dartmouth College organized a club around such outings, with a particular emphasis on

winter sport Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold are ...

s.Allen 1996, pp. 75-76 ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'' published an article about a

Dartmouth Outing Club The Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) is the oldest and largest collegiate outing club in the United States. Proposed in 1909 by Dartmouth College student Fred Harris to "stimulate interest in out-of-door winter sports", the club soon grew to encompas ...

skiing trip in 1920, and the following spring saw a 300 percent increase in applications for admission to the college. By 1932, 14 outing clubs had been founded at universities in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. These 14 clubs formed the Intercollegiate Outing Club Association (IOCA) to organize multi-club excursions. These clubs were based on the model established at Dartmouth, although similar groups had existed since at least 1888. Outing clubs were especially popular before and during World War II. They offered a way for students to find transportation at a time when few had cars and when gasoline was rationed. Because many of these clubs were at

single-sex schools Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

, IOCA outings were a popular way for members to meet students of the opposite sex. According to Dr. E. John B. Allen of the New England Ski Museum, collegiate outing clubs played an important role in promoting and modernizing skiing in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s.

Activities

An outing club participates in a variety of outdoor recreational activities. The specific activities depend on the club and may range from wilderness exploration (such as climbing, hiking, and canoeing) to more "extreme" sports such as snowboarding and hang gliding. Clubs typically provide gear and training for new members to help them participate safely. Outing clubs often promote

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

through educational events or by participating in service projects, such as building or maintaining cabins or trails. Singing and

square dancing A square dance is a dance for four couples, or eight dancers in total, arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances contain elements from numerous traditional dances and were first documente ...

were also important outing club activities in the past, but this is less common today.

Organization

Like other student societies, outing clubs are usually run and chartered by students of a college or university along with an advisor. Equipment and fees are funded by membership dues, shared trip costs, or donations. Clubs tend to use a "common adventure" model, with democratic

group decision-making Group decision-making (also known as collaborative decision-making or collective decision-making) is a situation faced when individuals collectively make a choice from the alternatives before them. The decision is then no longer attributable to an ...

and little bureaucracy. A trip may or may not have a designated facilitator or leader to enforce safety or legal guidelines. A less common trip model is the "guided or packaged trip," in which most details are planned in advance.Webb 2001, pg. 51.

References

;Bibliography * * * {{cite conference , last=Webb , first=David J. , date=November 2001 , url=http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED476473 , title=The Emergence and Evolution of Outdoor Adventure Programs, 1863-2000: A History of Student Initiated Outing Programs , publisher=Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education , publication-place=Bloomington, Illinois , book-title=Daring To Be Different! Proceedings of the Annual International Conference on Outdoor Recreation and Education , pages=40–53 , editor1-last=Joyce , editor1-first=Peter , editor2-last=Poff , editor2-first=Raymond , access-date=2014-06-01

External links

Intercollegiate Outing Club Association

Origins

Activities

Organization

See also

References

External links