Following a summer of construction and preparation, the home of the new Hamilton Outdoor Leadership Center was dedicated and celebrated on Wednesday, August 23. Following the dedication there was a reception, cookout and screening of adventure films on the lawn open to the entire Hamilton College community.
The rejuvenation and expansion of the Glen House, as the former dean's home is now called, was made possible with the anonymous gift to the college of $700,000. The funds were donated for the development of dedicated facilities, educational and social space, for both the Outing Club and the Adirondack Adventure (AA) Program. Financial provisions were also made for the hiring of an assistant for the Adventure Program through 2011, and an endowed fund for new equipment and program enhancements was created.
Until quite recently, the Hamilton outdoor programs lived in the basement of Benedict Hall, affectionately known as "the dungeon" This new home, however, is more of a castle or a retreat. The Outdoor Leadership offices' Glen House is located next to The Little Pub and behind the Carriage House. It was once Edward Root's studio and later became his widow's home; more recently, it has been the residence of the Dean of Students and then the Associate Dean of Faculty.
Commenting on the evolution and growth of the outdoor leadership program and the new center President Stewart said, "Thanks to the foresight and generosity of an anonymous donor and the hard work of Andrew Jillings, Hamilton's new outdoor leadership center provides an attractive and functional home for a program that adds immeasurably to the student experience."
The building includes offices for the Bike Co-op, the Ski and Snowboard Guild and the administrative offices of Director of Outdoor Leadership Andrew Jillings and his new assistant. The house has storage space, a large room with a working fireplace and an outside deck to seat 50, all of which are intended for student activities, classes and AA functions. Jillings hopes that this new building will act as a social center on campus and provide a central hub for students interested in the outdoors. If the week preceding the dedication can be used as an indicator of future student engagement in the center, it will be a wild success. Jillings commented, "my biggest worry is that I won't get any work done, as my office is right off what may be the coolest hangout space on campus!"
As well as a social hub, the HOLC is a manifestation of the personal leadership training encouraged by the outdoor programs. Jillings predicted that, with the updated Outdoor Leadership offerings and the three-story climbing wall in the new Blood Fitness Center, "the opportunities for students to get [their] hands on leadership training [and] learn personal responsibility… are set to go through the roof!"
Hamilton has a long history of outdoor activity. The Outing Club was formed shortly after World War II, when students were eager to explore the Adirondacks and local ski areas. Before the advent of Kirkland College, many of the events functioned as social mixers as well as outdoor excursions. The Club has always been student-run. The Adirondack Adventure program was founded in 1984 and allows incoming first-year and transfer students to go on an eight-day program in the Adirondacks. The Ropes Course, a series of high and low outdoor physical challenges designed to engage groups in trust-building and teamwork exercises followed, created in 1997 using funds from the Class of 1996 senior gift.
After the potential of the ropes course was realized, a full-time administrative position was created to run the facility and other outdoor programs. This position was filled by Jillings in 1997. This summer the AA program had two interns, Ryan Murphy '08 and Sarah Mortati '08, both of whom worked on the renovation of the HOLC.
Jillings noted that the new center helps the outdoor programs to achieve an important goal: "to have a unified program, with all assets under one roof – a Center for Outdoor Leadership. Barriers to education would be reduced with a classroom in the Center, equipment would be more visible and accessible, and students would congregate and create a community of 'outdoorsy kids' with a place to call their own."
- Lisbeth Redfield
