Ashley Lage | Staff Writer

A new leadership organization has formed on Buena Vista University (BVU)’s campus this year. Adventure Leadership Program Scholars (ALPS) is run through the Outdoor Rec Den and director Ellen Schiltz. This fall, participants were selected and they started holding events and opportunities to learn for students on campus.

The overall goal of ALPS according to Schiltz is “[To] develop student leaders of outdoor recreation activities for the BVU community.”

In order to become a member of ALPS, students had to apply, answer organization-related questions, get recommendations from peers and professors, and have a certain grade point average.

“[One must] have a strong passion for the outdoors! But not necessarily experience,” sophomore ALPS member Carolyn McDermott said.

There are many different areas of outdoor recreation and skills that students are introduced to because of ALPS.

“It is non-academic and does not cost anything. Students learn hard skills like canoeing, backcountry camping, water rescues, and soft skills like teambuilding and group facilitation, as well as self-awareness, leadership development and personal growth,” Schiltz said.

The current members of ALPS include: Carolyn McDermott, Kelsey Fredricks, Geena Graber, Ian Grigsby, Deven Rieck, Griffin Truslow, Courtney Bailey, Charlotte Strope, and Laura Page.

“The fact that I can plan trips for BVU students and try to broaden their experiences through outdoor recreation is awesome. At large universities a lot of students get their start in hiking and outdoor recreation. Through ALPS, I can help bring that same experience to BVU. This program is very unique to BVU and gives students lifelong knowledge about various activities. ALPS is pretty much a knowledge spreading program, I can teach peers skills that I learned from being a girl scout,” McDermott said.

This program has made different outdoorsy experiences possible for students in coordination with the Outdoor Rec Den so far this fall. They have taken trips off campus as well as held events on campus. The off campus events include: Stand Up Paddleboarding in Okoboji, IA, Paintballing in Minneapolis, MN, and Hiking in Palisades, SD. Recently the group held a Zombie Bash for Halloween at the Outdoor Rec Den.

A couple of events that are already planned for 2014 include ridding RAGBRAI in July and traveling to Utah in August.

Graphic by Aaron Burns