John Magyar and the Outing Club

By Christian Hummel | Wednesday, April 8, 1998

According to one former professor, Dartmouth's greatest glory is its location. Nestled against the banks of the Connecticut River in between the White and Green Mountain ranges, settled astride the Appalchian Trail, is Dartmouth College.

In 1909, the Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) was formed by Fred Harris '11 to better acquaint the students of the College with their immediate environment. Over the years the DOC has grown to over 1200 members and remained staunchly tied to their tradition carrying much of what makes this College truly
great.

In the end it is not neccessarily what is taught in the classrooms that is remembered — it is the winters, the Freshman trips, the mountains, all epitomized in the symbol of the Lone Pine.

The DOC, perhaps more than any other College institution, and certainly more than the present administration, recognizes the role of tradition plays in defining the College. The specific ways that the Club has adapted to the changing face of Dartmouth should serve as a model for the rest of the College to emulate.

Generally speaking, the DOC is best described as being an umbrella organization under which eleven clubs are affiliated. From Bait and Bullet to the Women in the Wilderness Program, the DOC serves almost any outdoors activity imaginable. The Skiing Programs are managed through DOC and not, as it might be supposed, the Athletic Department.

The DOC is the oldest collegiate outing club in the country and, uniquely, is almost entirely student-run. It has managed to maintain an affection for the past while still being able to adapt to presnt times.

Current DOC President John Magyar '98 is small but ambitious. A chemistry major who hopes to begin his pursuit of a Ph.D. next year, Magyar is an active member of Aquinas House, the Catholic student organization.

'There is an element of the DOC that serves as a keeper of tradition... the Outing Club is definitely one of those places where traditions die hard. People who are involved in the Outing Club tend to have a real affection for the Dartmouth of time's past. At the same time we try to have a real forward-looking outlook to adapt to with the times... to be the Dartmouth Outing Club of today's College rather than the College of the past,' said Magyar in a recent interview.

The DOC retains operation of one of its longest standing traditions. The trips, according to Magyar, have a three-fold purpose. First, to introduce freshmen to Dartmouth. Second, it is an introduction to the DOC. Third, the trips function as an introduction to the wilds of New Hampshire. It was truly the Freshman Trips program which helped to keep the preservation of the Lodge on Mt. Mousilauke.

During the 1960's and 70's the Lodge was maintained exclusively for the Freshman Trips. Moves were made to destroy the facility and return the area to its previous state. The DOC, however, secured outside funding to procure the lodge. The DOC continued to maintain the facility, which has nowopened to the public and has even managed to return a tiny profit.

While serving as a maintainer of College traditions, the DOC has found other ways to be innovative and to make its mark. During the 1960's, at the height of the Cold War, a Ledyard Canoe Club expedition was made to paddle the entire length of the Danube, a river which flows across the Iron Curtain.

Last year, the same group, Ledyard, organized a trip to Vietnam. These expeditions became a means for the College to serve as an ambassador of the West. The Danube expedition even resulted in a National Geographic article.

The DOC is not without its critics though. The club has been accused of being at times elitiest or a closed groups whose composition consists of tree-hungers and granola-eating 'crunchies.'

To combat this stereotype, the club has responded with a number of programs. The Women in the Wilderness Program allows women the chance to travel on overnight trips together into the woods. The DOChas also offered its expertise in providing other campus organizations the chance to conduct social and group activities on DOC-maintained property.

The place of these such programs, however, is not to be at the exclusion or in place of such long-standing clubs such as Cabin and Trail or Ledyard, Magyar was quick to point out. These programs are a means for the larger DOC as a whole to be flexible and to adapt to the needs and desires of the student body.

As for its goals for the future the clubs hopes to see more student involvement. Magyar stated that the Club hopes to conduct more activities in conjunction with other campus clubs. Additionally, the club has co-sponsored lectures with some academic departments. Magyar noted Walker Weed '40, Jay Evans '49, and former Dartmouth President John Sloane Dickeyas figures from the past who have inspired his Presidential policy. Magyar has spent time with both as a part of his involvment with the DOC.

'Both Evans and Weed are remarkable individuals who have done an awful lot in the outdoors as well as in their respective careers... Jay Evans is a wealth of information about the College Outing Club history. Both are full of stories.' As for President Dickey, Mr. Magyar has spent some time reading what President Dickey wrote about what makes Dartmouth special.

In the movie A River Runs Through It, director Robert Redford has Dartmouth alumnus Norman Maclean say that 'Dartmouth was more than an education; it was a revelation .'It is unlikely that the late Mr. Maclean ever used such words; it can be found no-where within his two published books. But, beyond the veracity of Maclean's supposed sentiments, their is some truth to that statement. The DOC's premise is that Dartmouth can provide more than an Ivy League degree — it is an opportunity for growth, an opportunity to truly learn, the opportunity to set foot in the same paths touched upon by some of the greatest men in this country and to depart from them when they have led far enough.

It gives the Outing Club, Magyar says, the opportunity to be a part of a tradition and not to make tradition a master.

John Magyar and the Outing Club

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