The 2011 Dartmouth Outing Club First-Year Trips directorate will focus on building ongoing relationships with members of the Class of 2015 by maintaining the "welcoming spirit" of Trips once trippees return to campus, according to Trips director Emily Unger '11. Unger, who announced the members of the 2011 Trips directorate in a campus-wide e-mail Tuesday afternoon, said she and Trips assistant director Andrew Purpura '11 searched for applicants who demonstrated leadership qualities and dedication to the Trips program in the past.
Unger requested that Croo chiefs decline to comment because the 2011 Trips directorate has not had its first initial meeting. The new Trips organizers will likely meet by Friday, according to Unger.
The 2011 Trips directorate will focus on maintaining the enthusiasm of Trips among members of the Class of 2015 throughout the academic year, Unger said.
"When Trips get back, the spirit can kind of die and we're looking to make it last further into the year," Unger said.
The Trips directorate also plans to adjust the culture of Trips to increase focus on helping trippees feel at home when they initially arrive and subsequently adjust to life at the College, according to Unger.
"There was a big push last year to make welcoming freshmen the main goal of trips and we want to make that a tradition that is set in stone this year," Unger said.
Grayson Zulauf '12 and Emma Routhier '12 will serve as H-Croo chiefs while Dan Eisenson '12 and Roni Nitecki '11 will be the two Lodj Croo chiefs, according to the e-mail. Emily Niehaus '12 and Steve Praetorius '12 will serve as Vox Croo chiefs, Milo Johnson '13 will act as Grant Croo chief and Riley Kane '12 will fill the position of Climbing Croo chief. The new trip leader trainers will be Anna Wearn '12, Chris Randall '12 and Jasper Hicks '12. Luisa Sperry '13 will serve as safety master while Natasha Herring '12 will act as the inclusivity and outreach intern.
Organizers also hope to create a more diverse group of trip leaders and Croo members, she said. "Diversity means so many different things," she said. "It's not just a superficial thing it's the activities you do, where you are from, what major you are, what your life is like at home and at Dartmouth."
In order to meet this goal, Unger and Purpura said they will reach out to different campus groups and to individuals who have not participated in Trips in the past to find out why they have never been involved.
While the 2010 Trips directorate worked with the Office of Pluralism and Leadership to create the inclusivity and outreach intern position, the 2011 Trips directorate aims to utilize this position to represent a wider range of experiences and perspectives, Purpura said.
Trip leaders should represent the diverse student body at the College "so that they are truly representative of the Dartmouth campus," Unger said.
"We want trippees to be able to find a trip leader at [Moosilauke Ravine Lodge] that they feel they have something in common with," she said.
Rob Avruch '11, who served as the inclusivity and outreach intern last year, agreed it is important that incoming students can identify with members of the Trips directorate and "see themselves reflected in this group of people."
"We met with leaders of affinity organizations around campus and held small focus groups asking them to share what their personal experiences were with Trips," he said. "We asked these leaders to really stress the fact that people involved in Trips serve as ambassadors."
Arvuch said he believes that Trips organizers were "pretty successful" at increasing diversity last year, adding that the efforts are continuous and cannot be changed in a short period of time.
"I think we can still do a much better job at reaching out to urban students and repositioning the Trips program to highlight the fact that there are a number of different types of trips not everyone will be on intense hiking experience," he said. "People from the city think they don't have clothing or proper gear or that they're not the type of person who would enjoy the outdoors."
Each year, the Trips director and assistant director review applications. Pupura said he and Unger read over 50 applications for positions on the Trips directorate this Winter.
Pupura and Unger selected students based on their leadership styles, past involvement in Trips and other relevant and varied skills, he said.
"We wanted to gather a group of people with diverse interests and diverse leadership styles to make sure we were looking at Trips with critical eye and with innovation," Purpura said.
Unger and Purpura also looked for applicants who demonstrated a willingness to put in the time and effort needed to improve upon the past success of the Trips program, according to Unger.
"We wanted people who had the best interest of Trips at heart, people who were clearly going to be dedicated to the program and who understood the mission of trips," she said.
Organizers plan to improve trip leader training to ensure that trip leaders feel more prepared before the start of Trips, according to Unger.
Students often hesitate to apply for trip leader positions because they feel they are not "outdoorsy" or "not crazy enough," Unger said.
"You don't need to be super outdoorsy or crazy," she said. "We're looking for much more than that the most important thing is to be welcoming to freshmen." Unger served as a trip leader before her sophomore and junior years and was a trip leader trainer last summer, she said.
"Trips embodies the best part of Dartmouth the spirit of welcoming freshmen, getting people outside, building a community," Unger said. "For me getting to direct this program is a huge honor and I hope that I can make it a stronger program than it ever has been."
The Trips directorate also plans to continue efforts to make Trips more sustainable in the way leaders organize food, waste and transportation, according to Unger.
