Current Dartmouth Outing Club president Mallory Byrd ’19 announced the new directorate for the club on Wednesday night via email. The directorate of the DOC is composed of a president, vice presidents and treasurer. The elected members will replace the current directorate this spring.
Founded in 1909, the DOC is the College’s largest student organization, with over 1,500 members. It is also an umbrella organization for more than a dozen sub-clubs specializing in various outdoor activities, such as the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club and the Ledyard Canoe Club.
While Byrd has served as president of the DOC for the past four terms, three different students — John Brady ’19, Laura Hutchinson ’19 and Ben Saccone ’20 — will serve as president over the next four terms.
Hutchinson will serve as president for spring 2018 following her terms as vice president for fall and winter 2018. In the past, she has served as chair of two DOC sub-clubs: the Winter Sports Club and Women in the Wilderness. Hutchinson was also the vice president of the DOC with Anna Ellis ’19 last summer.
As president, Hutchinson said she hopes to make the DOC more inclusive and welcoming.
“We’ve been talking about inclusivity a lot, and I’m hoping to tangibly tackle that a little more comprehensively,” Hutchinson said. “One of the ways I am hoping to address that is by being more available. I’m hoping to schedule office hours where I will sit in [Robinson Hall] and people can voice their concerns and chat about what they can do to get more involved with the club.”
In addition, Hutchinson said she believes it is important for the DOC to organize panel discussions and other on-campus activities in the future.
Saccone will serve as president during the summer of 2018. As president, Saccone hopes to cooperate with the Outdoor Programs Office and the leaders of each DOC sub-club to ensure that outdoor trips are widely available to students, according to his election statement. His past experience with the DOC includes serving as chair of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club since fall 2017.
Brady will serve as president for fall and winter 2018. He is the current captain of the Woodsmen’s team as well as chair of Cabin and Trail. Additionally, he was DOC treasurer for three terms. As president, Brady hopes to increase outreach to “under-involved portions of campus” and make DOC a more inclusive club, according to his election statement.
“We also want to reduce the logistical barriers, simplify the process and streamline the systems so that we have people spend less time fussing around administrative tasks and more time outdoors and enjoying the beautiful New Hampshire wilderness,” he said.
Byrd said the DOC president is responsible for managing overall administrative tasks, dealing with risk management and communicating with the Dartmouth community as well as the College.
During her tenure, she said the directorate implemented new programs such as the DOC Environmental Stewardship Committee. Established in spring 2017, it has worked to “track, reduce and offset the carbon emissions produced by outing club trips and consumption” so that the DOC can become carbon neutral.
Lauren Mendelsohn ’19, Hunter Dominick ’20, Iris Wang ’20 and Hutchinson were elected as vice presidents of the DOC.
Mendelsohn will serve as vice president for spring and fall 2018 and winter 2019. She is the current vice president of the DOC and served as chair of CnT as well as captain of the Woodsmen’s team in the past. As vice president, Mendelsohn hopes to foster inclusivity within the DOC by organizing dinners with different student groups and increase environmental stewardship, according to her election statement.
Dominick and Wang will serve as vice presidents during summer 2018. Within the DOC, Dominick is currently a leader in CnT and Ledyard. Dominick hopes to continue efforts to welcome outdoor beginners into the club by possibly organizing new member or beginner-only trips, according to his election statement. As the current CnT heeler chair, Wang helps heelers — students in the process of becoming full leaders — ascend, or become full leaders. Wang is also a leader in Club Alpine Ski and was a Trips leader last fall. As vice president, Wang hopes to make DOC outdoor activities accessible to people from all skill levels, according to her election statement.
Carolyn McShea ’18, who is serving as the current vice president of the DOC with Mendelsohn, said it is paramount that vice presidents have a clear vision for the goal.
“[The vice presidents] should step into the position with a goal,” McShea said. “When you are running for something, hopefully you are not figuring out the agenda and your position.”
McShea added that the incoming DOC directorate is unique in that it is composed of more students than in the past. She said it is important for members of the directorate serving during different terms to communicate with each other so that they can pursue more large-scale projects.
Kaijing Janice Chen ’19 and Ethan Smith ’20 were elected as treasurers.
Chen will serve as treasurer for spring and fall 2018 and winter 2019. Within the DOC, Chen has planned and led break trips with Ledyard. She hopes to increase awareness of the DOC’s financial resources so that more students can participate in the DOC’s outdoor activities in the future, according to her election statement.
Smith will serve during summer 2018. He hopes to more efficiently allocate the DOC’s funds and increase financial transparency, according to his election statement.
Andrew Crutchfield ’18, the current treasurer of the DOC, said the treasurer is responsible for all the student finances within the club. The money that the treasurer manages includes the DOC endowment as well as funding from the Undergraduate Finance Committee.
Crutchfield added that the treasurer of the DOC should ideally be well-organized and pragmatic.
“You have to be well-organized — it’s as close to accounting as you can get without being an accountant,” Crutchfield said. “You also have to be pragmatic and know that you are always going to want more money than you have, and everyone is always going to be asking you for more money but you have to be able to say no.”
Chen is a member of The Dartmouth.
