The Outdoor Foundation is on a mission: to inspire more college kids to recreate outside.
For the past three years thousands of college students across the country have gotten outside through a friendly competition called the Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge. During this annual fall event, universities compete to see who can log the greatest number of outdoor recreation activities, such as biking, hiking, camping, climbing, etc., as well as participants. The winning school gets bragging rights and is crowned the National Outdoor Champion.
As the Adventure Ed Coordinator at Wilkes University, I’ve seen firsthand how a focus on fresh air and fun can benefit not only individual students but an entire campus. Wilkes, a private university in Pennsylvania with undergrad enrollment just shy of 2,500, is probably not what you have in mind when you hear the term “outdoor mecca.” Despite being an urban campus, we have a small but passionate community of outdoor enthusiasts eager to embark on any adventure.
Thanks to the Outdoor Foundation, Wilkes was first able to participate in the Campus Challenge in 2015. We were unsure of how we’d match up against campuses in more traditionally outdoorsy environments. The Wilkes community, though, wasn’t fazed. Students and staff went all in. They biked, swam, ran, climbed, glamped and yoga-ed until they dropped. That first year, we came in 4th place out of 60 schools, with nearly 900 participants and 3,600 outdoor activities logged. Last year, we snagged 4th place again (out of 90 schools), with 7,500 outdoor activities.
The great thing about outdoor activities is that they’re always better with a friend. We created Buddy Week, when students committed to engaging in an outdoor activity with a friend. This small…
