SEPT 26, 2024 | NEWS | By Anya Potsiadlo
The Colorado College Outdoor Education Office is hiring a firm specialized in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) concerning outdoor recreation to conduct an audit investigating its own department.
The organization, DEI in the Outdoors, defines itself as a DEI consulting firm. Among their offerings are different “Pathways to Transformation” that, according to their website include “an organizational assessment, personalized training sessions, consulting services, and monthly support calls,” that vary in length from three to 14 months. The pathways to transformation program is geared towards organizations, like CC Outdoor Ed, which are committed to making lasting change.
The conversation surrounding DEI in outdoor spaces is far from new. The Catalyst has published articles such as “CC’s Outdoor Identity: A Racial Divide,” and “Green Places Do Not Mean White Spaces: How CC Approaches Racial Inclusivity in the Outdoors,” in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
Isabella Cole ‘27 and a group of students from her Block 1 class, Environment and Society, explored the barriers to equity within the outdoor community at CC in their final project. They interviewed community members as well as the OE staff.
“It seems like they’re really locking in on inclusivity. My group went into it unsure of what we would find and we were honestly super impressed with the attitudes of the staff and the vision they have for the program,” said Cole.
The OE office at Colorado College is intentional about its commitment to DEI within its programs; on the “Inclusion” page on their website, the office outlines their efforts, including trips geared towards first-time skiers and campers, leadership development programs for Bridge Scholars and inviting speakers whose work specializes in increasing accessibility to the outdoors for historically underrepresented communities.
According to Cole’s findings, the largest area for improvement was the lack of an intermediate step between true first-timers and people who feel comfortable and equipped to hit the mountain regularly.
“If your friends ski, you’re gonna ski. You’re gonna find a way to do it. But, if you are not with a group of people who are getting outdoors consistently, it’s a lot harder to do those by yourself,” said Cole.
The results of the audit will most likely be complete by the end of the year, and they will be an assessment of both the internal workings of the office and the experiences.