Adventure Rec Student Leadership

Student leadership is a core value of Adventure Rec. Student Rec Leaders led over 70 trips in 2023/24. From backpacking in Yosemite and Big Sur to rock climbing in the desert to kayaking in Monterey Bay, Rec Leaders open the doors of outdoor adventure and connection for hundreds of UCSC students. Gifts received on Giving Day will once again go toward the Nik Madsen Memorial Endowment for Whole Heart Leadership to support leadership development among Adventure Rec student field staff. 

Thanks to $10,000 in matching donations, $5,000 from Nik Madsen's family, and $5,000 from Diana Sunshine and Bill Onderdonk, your gifts are doubled! Additionally, the Madsen family would like to mark Nik's 30th birthday this year. Also, the family makes this gift in honor of the life of Randy Renter, Nik's uncle and a big early supporter of this endowment. 

Adventure Rec's Giving Day goal is to have at least 150 donors - current students, alumni, friends, and family - contribute to the project. 

Over the past five years of your Giving Day support, over 50 Rec Leaders have participated in dozens of field-based outdoor leadership trainings, expanding technical skills and interpersonal qualities to lead UCSC students on life-changing adventures. Opportunities have included Swiftwater Rescue, NOLS Trip Leader courses, American Mountain Guide Association climbing courses, and a series of risk management and technical skills trainings offered by Adventure Rec. These trainings build student leaders' confidence and competence, directly impacting the high volume of trips offered to the campus community and professional opportunities available to them following graduation.

Follow along today and throughout the year at ucsc_adventurerec.

Thank you for joining the journey!