Congratulations to All of Us on 50 Years!

I want to start by saying thank you to everyone who served as an OA Leader during your time at Princeton. All of us should feel an incredible sense of pride for what we have accomplished. Fifty years is more than just a number. It is measured by the more than 25,000 students who have gone on Frosh Trip, the more than 3,700 Leaders trained, the hundreds of thousands of miles walked, the thousands of late-night campfire discussions, the innumerable friends made, the new skills learned, and the personal and group challenges overcome.

You should also know how far OA’s impact has rippled out across higher education. Numerous colleges including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Williams and others have built their programs based on Outdoor Action, making our impact even greater. OA is respected across the U.S. as one of the leading college outdoor education programs. OA is, and always has been, about personal transformation. There are thousands of stories of people whose lives were changed in positive ways by your leadership and service to OA. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for giving of yourself to support and inspire tens of thousands of your fellow Princetonians.

The impact of OA goes far beyond the Princeton campus. Each of you utilize those experiences and lessons every day as you continue to share and spread the vision of this program through the way you lead and serve others in your work and life.
While I have had the honor of being the steward of this great program for the past forty-three years, it is your hard work, your love of OA, and your willingness to give so much of yourself to others, that is fundamental to the impact we have had for fifty years. Take a moment and watch the 50th Anniversary video below to understand just what Outdoor Action has given to Princeton.

I want to thank all of you who were able to come back in September to help us celebrate OA’s 50th! It was truly a fun and inspirational weekend. A special thanks to our keynote speaker Peter Bregman ’89 for sharing his thoughts on leadership and to all of the leaders who helped us relive the birth and growth of OA in our ‘Through the Decades’ discussion panel.

In this celebratory issue of Tiger Trails, I take you through some reflections from the weekend and history from the last five decades.

We can’t truly understand where we are going with- out knowing where we came from. After looking back, it will be time to look forward and ask these questions about our future:

• What does OA’s impact look like over the next fifty years?
• How can OA facilitate spending time in nature and the outdoors to better support student mental health?
• How do we expand the number of students who can discover the magic of spending time outdoors?
• How do we grow our ability to transform the lives of Princeton students through experiential education and leadership development?
• What role can OA play to ensure that every Princeton student graduates as a more effective leader than when they arrived?
• How do we secure OA’s legacy?

I need your help to expand OA’s capacity for personal development and growth. I am asking each of you to make a special gift this year for OA’s 50th Anniversary.

My sincerest thanks to all of you for making OA a program that has truly transformed the lives of so many people.

Rick Curtis ’79 h04 h99 h13
Director

“For me the theme of transformation really resonates. Coming back to this event helped me realize the degree of transformation and& leadership development that I experienced as a part of my OA participation.”

“[Through OA] I met many lifelong friends, including spouse! Most of my best friends from Princeton were via OA. It gave me an appreciation for the outdoors and environmental stewardship, and I learned a lot about group leadership.”

“Of everything I studied at Princeton which I really loved, [OA] was the most real world thing I did.”

“OA helped shape me as an individual, having more confidence in my abilities. Learning this early on in college helped shape my future both personally and professionally. The leadership skills I learned have helped me throughout my life.”

Share your reflections online.

What does OA Look Like Today?

Frosh Trip Program

The Outdoor Action Frosh Trip supports over 650 incoming students as part of their formal Orientation process to Princeton. As one of the first outdoor orientation programs in 1974, OA led the way for many other college programs. In part, because of the growth of Outdoor Action, Princeton decided that all incoming students should have a multi-day small group experience.

There have been considerable changes over the past ten years. In 2016 Frosh Trip moved from being an optional fee-based pre-orientation program to being fully funded by the University. Frosh Trip, now four days, is one of the small group programs that take place during Orientation Week.

Bouncing back from Covid has been a challenge. We are still rebuilding the pool of leaders to accommodate the number of participants. The next step is strengthening the skill level of our leaders. To welcome and challenge new students and build a strong team requires a solid curriculum and highly trained leaders. OA’s model of students training other students continues to be effective and needs ongoing support. My goal is for Princeton to have the best trained college outdoor leaders.

One of OA’s goals is to ensure that the program continues to be inclusive to all students. An important part of this is providing the equipment necessary for students to participate.

Leader Training Program

The OA Leader Training Program is the lifeblood of OA. Our current core training elements continue to be:

• Leadership 101 & 102 Group Dynamics Workshops
• Wilderness First Aid & CPR
• Outdoor Technical Skills Workshop
• Managing Safety Workshop
• Leader Training Trip

Educating leaders who are confident in their facilitation skills, effective at debriefing, technically competent and who also have the empathy and sensitivity to create welcoming spaces for incoming students is a huge responsibility. Every dollar invested in the Leader Training Program creates a better outcome for all of the participants in OA and creates an even greater transformational benefit for the Leaders. As OA leader alumni,
you understand how you continue to use the leadership skills that you developed as an OA Leader.

Part of OA’s mission is to be the most effective leadership development program on campus, serving the largest number of students possible. We need to increase the overall number of leaders and reflect the ever-growing diversity of the Princeton student body.

In the OA ‘train the trainer’ model, Leader Trainers and Technical Skills instructors teach the curriculum to new leaders. While Covid did not change our core Leader Training elements, it did mean changes in how we deliver some of them. For example, our student first aid instructors graduated, and we now rely on an outside company for first aid training.

OA+ Academic Year Trips

In 2016 in anticipation of this year’s 50th Anniversary of OA, a group of leader alumni made a recommendation that OA develop a strategic plan for the program. In 2019 a student, staff, and faculty OA Strategic Planning committee was created to examine OA’s history and make recommendations for the future. One of their recommendations stated that “sustaining the existing program and expanding it to serve more students throughout the academic year is one of the best investments Princeton can make in student leadership development, health and wellness, and co-curricular learning over the next decade.”

That report led to a December 2019 grant proposal to the TigerWell Health and Wellness Fund to support free OA trips and activities throughout the academic year for all undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff. OA was awarded the grant in March of 2020 and began the implementation of the new program, called OA+, when students returned to campus in September 2021. Thanks to an additional grant from Vice President for Campus Life Rochelle Calhoun, we are continuing the OA+ program through the 2024 - 2025 academic year.

Additional thanks to the Helmut and Caroline Weymar Fund for supporting a term position for the OA+ Trips Coordinator to develop and manage the program.

Since its inception, interest in OA+ trips during the academic year has continued to grow. Last academic year we offered 30 activities such as hiking, canoeing, cross-country skiing, and nature explorations. At the timing of this newsletter OA+ has already run 30 trips this fall and is on track to double the amount of trips and participation from previous years. Continuing the OA+ program beyond this year is an important goal.

OA Climbing Wall Program

Outdoor Action was one of the first colleges to build an indoor climbing wall. Many of you will remember the unheated space in the Armory where, from 1983 - 2007, people took their first steps into climbing through OA. The current OA Climbing Wall, with thirteen rope stations, is located inside one of the support columns of the Princeton Stadium. ‘The Wall’ provides a welcoming and supportive community to new and experienced climbers of all ages. After opening the Wall in 2007, we professionalized the operation so that all Climbing Wall Staff are nationally certified Climbing Wall Instructors. 

We know that climbing is not just a physical activity; it is a sport that teaches self-confidence and develops trust between belayer and climber as a powerful metaphor for what makes an effective team. Climbing pushes people to step beyond limits they set for themselves while being supported and cheered on by people on the ground. Sharing ‘Beta’ about a climb builds camaraderie and the Wall creates a wonderfully supportive community. All of the funding for the Wall comes from your annual donations to Princeton University for the Friends of Outdoor Action.

One of our long-term goals for the Wall is to enhance the current facility to accommodate the range of users from beginners to experienced climbers. We also want to create greater opportunities as a team-building facility for groups and expand the diversity of the campus community who see climbing as an opportunity for skill development, physical fitness, mental health and personal growth. The Climbing Wall is an entry point to experience the exhilaration of outdoor climbing and we hope to expand the Climbing Program by offering outdoor climbing trips during the academic year.

Alumni Support & Programming

The Friends of Outdoor Action was recognized by the University as a friends group in 1988 to ‘support the ongoing mission of the Outdoor Action Program.’ Since that time thousands of OA alumni Leaders, participants, parents and friends have donated to Princeton to support OA. I am so grateful to everyone for your support over the years. Because of your gifts we are able to offer Leader Training Trips to Florida each January, OA+ trips during the academic year, fund the operation of the OA Climbing Wall, support professional development for OA Leaders and staff, and replace aging equipment.

We are also extremely grateful to have a number of endowed funds:

• Kevin Callaghan ’83 Fund
• Evan Chyun ’04 Memorial Fund
• Josh Miner ’43 Fund
• Zander Scott ’92 Fund
• Helmut & Caroline Weymar Fund
• OA General Endowment Fund
   

These funds support OA on a continuing basis. A goal for Outdoor Action is to expand our endowment funds to better support funding for the OA+ Program and staffing, the OA Climbing Wall, Leader Training and equipment replacement.

Outdoor Action also has a long history of offering programs for alumni and families. Each year we offer programs during Alumni Day and Reunions to bring OA leaders and friends together on campus.

In 1988 and continuing through 2004 OA orchestrated a series of multi-day outdoor programs for alumni and families. For a full history of programs see OA Program History. 

In 2012, OA developed a successful partnership with Princeton Journeys to bring back alumni trips in 2012, 2016 and 2018. OA’s 50th Anniversary Reunion was our first major alumni event since 2018.

Following the 50th Anniversary event there is interest in creating more opportunities for alumni programs including domestic and international trips, other activities organized by OA, and regional outings organized by leader alumni. There is also interest in developing trips that bring current students and alumni together to explore and enjoy the outdoors.

One thing that I have seen in every OA Alumni event is the incredible sense of camaraderie and the amazing networking that happens when we bring the community together. People who have never met each other rave about how fun and valuable it is to connect with other Princetonians, something I hope that we can continue in the future.