WHAT: The Haverford Outdoors Club, HavOC for short, aims to provide every student with meaningful positive outdoors experience, no matter their experience or financial circumstances. Since it was established, the club has ensured that anyone interested in lacing up a pair of hiking boots, strapping on skis, or picking up a canoe paddle gets an opportunity to do so. The group runs numerous trips throughout the academic year, including day hikes, ski excursions, multiday backpacking trips, and polar plunges at the Jersey Shore, and provides free wilderness first-aid training for students.
HavOC also maintains a gear locker in Gummere Hall’s basement with more than 600 items so participants can get fully outfitted before departing. “You really don’t need to own anything. We have boots, socks, shirts, pants … we have all you could ever need to go backpacking or camping,” says club co-head Brisa Kane ’25.
WHERE: Nearly all trips are within a day’s drive, at most, from the College, says co-head Owen Cross ’25. Past trips have included day hikes in local state and national parks and backpacking trips in the Adirondack Mountains and the Shenandoah Valley National Park. Recently, HavOC has been partnering with other student affinity groups to offer social events and workshops on campus on topics like mushroom hunting and tie-dyeing with natural materials.
WHY: “The outdoors is something that so many people love, so many people deserve to be able to go,” says Cross. Since taking over the club during their first year at Haverford, Kane and Cross have channeled their energy into broadening HavOC’s trip offerings while maintaining a high level of accessibility. They also oversee the Pre-Customs Outdoors Program (PCOP), which sends about 50 incoming first-year students into the woods for four days and three nights before returning to campus for the start of Customs.
“It’s a really great opportunity to get to know your fellow students,” Kane says. “And they’re also learning outdoor leadership skills.”
WHO: HavOC maintains a website that lists its upcoming offerings and also sends email notifications to nearly 500 people who have signed up for its mailing list. The club’s trips are so popular—a recent canoe trip received more than 100 signups for just 20 spots—that often, a lottery system is required. The lottery prioritizes first-time participants, a nod to HavOC’s commitment to making the outdoors as accessible as possible.