https://apnews.com/79dc2da81c644ef9bb97b844d88be1a5Sunday, April 22, 2018
Penn State says wilderness is too risky for outdoors clubs
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — A near-century-old outdoor recreation club will now refrain from going outside because it is too dangerous out in the wilderness, according to officials at Penn State University.
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 too risky, the university’s offices of Student Affairs and Risk Management determined.
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.
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.
cont.
