Wilderness Education Access Initiative

At SUNY Potsdam, the Wilderness Education Department provides experiential education through outdoor exploration. Wilderness Education programming is uniquely suited for SUNY Potsdam because of our campus’s location at the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, where students can form life-changing experiences among geological features that are not found anywhere else in the state.

Unfortunately, there is a disparity in program participation among the 31 percent of SUNY Potsdam students who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC). Some reasons for this are systemic: a combination of economic inequality, legalized segregation and other forms of racial discrimination have perpetuated a diversity gap in the outdoors. At SUNY Potsdam, we know that one major factor for the participation gap are the program's costs. Wilderness Education courses with a field experience require students to pay fees above the cost of tuition to cover travel, equipment, food and certifications.

The Wilderness Education Access Initiative at SUNY Potsdam aims to create more equitable access to Wilderness courses and field experiences by providing as many BIPOC students as possible with the financial resources to cover some or all program costs.

Help us make exploring the outdoors a more accessible venture by alleviating a major barrier for underrepresented SUNY Potsdam students. Thank you!

If you would like to mail-in a gift via check, please write 'Wilderness Ed. Campaign' in the memo, make it to 'Potsdam College Foundation, Inc.' and send to:

Potsdam College Foundation, Inc.
44 Pierrepont Ave.
Potsdam, NY 13676-2294
Raymond Hall 507

Phone: (315) 267-3053
Fax: (315) 267-3172