Adam Sepulveda '02 told The Dartmouth that he is hoping his first term as the new Dartmouth Outing Club President will be a term that initiates important changes within the entire organization.
Sepulveda said he sees this term as a significant juncture in the leading of the club because of the many staff changes that occurred recently.
"The director of outdoor programs is new and there is a lot of new blood coming in ... I'm pretty excited," he said.
One of Sepulveda's main priorities will be to increase the diversity of the established 91 year-old outing club.
"I want to try and open up the club to people that are not traditionally involved," he explained. The new DOC president intends to bring issues of racial and ethnic diversity to the forefront of his work.
"I do not want the DOC thought of as a stereotypical homogeneous white upper class club," Sepulveda emphasized.
He would also like to offer faculty the possibility for deeper involvement with the club's various programs and with its trip leadership.
"I know that there are many faculty that are really psyched about the outdoors," he explained "and it allows a neat chance for faculty and students to bond outside of the classroom."
Though he said he is a strong supporter of the individuality of the many clubs for which the DOC serves as an umbrella organization, Sepulveda said he also promotes joint trips between various groups.
The 20 year-old Ventura, California native got involved with the DOC through Ledyard Canoe Club. Sepulveda participated in a whitewater kayaking course his freshman fall for physical education credit.
"I fell in love with kayaking and became a leader and an instructor," Sepulveda explained.
The new DOC President said that he has always participated in a wide variety of outdoor activities. He joined the Boy Scouts at an early age, is an avid-surfer and has worked in the Rockies over past summer vacations.
Besides his involvement with the club, Sepulveda is an environmental biology major who has been working on a research project on Atlantic salmon with Professor Carol Folt of the biology department. He is also an eating disorder peer advisor.
But changing the course of the DOC will remain a priority with Sepulveda.
"That's what I'm most excited about, the opportunity I'm going to have to do new things," he said.
Sepulveda's term as DOC President begins this spring quarter and ends after winter quarter of next year. He is succeeding Eli Diament '02 as the head of the oldest outing club in the nation.
