As part of the 40th anniversary celebration of Cornell Outdoor Education (COE), several dozen people strolled down the High Line; rode bikes, rock climbed and participated in a photo scavenger hunt in Central Park; and later heard from nine student instructors at a banquet at the Cornell Club, Oct. 14-15, in New York City.

At the banquet, the student instructors not only described their experiences with COE but also how the organization gave them opportunities to push themselves and mentor others. "It creates this long mentorship cycle," said Julien Wilson '12. "It's one of the greatest things about COE -- learning from a long chain of people and knowing that chain will continue after you."

"All this history, of course, would not have been possible without the strong, consistent and generous support of founders, friends, funders," said outgoing COE board chair Kristen Rupert '74.

"And these are the people who listened, envisioned, pushed, lobbied, funded, transformed, hired, raised money, pushed some more, and helped make Cornell Outdoor Education what it is today," she said. "These heroes elevated our program, and lucky we are that most of them are continuing their love and support for COE."

Dan Tillemans, former executive director of COE, said the program's humble beginnings started with operations working from a notebook in a backpack and steadily grew to include an advisory board, the endowment of the director's position and more.

A big step, added incoming co-chair of the advisory board Ellen Tohn '81, was the decision to turn control of the organization over to the students. "At its essence, [COE] has always been about empowering students, changing lives and transforming the face of education at Cornell -- to empower students to learn, have an experiential education and create something," Tohn said.

"When you're 19 years old and you're getting that responsibility for the first time in life, it has a profound impact on you," said Scott Sklar '80, the other incoming co-chair. "It influenced me tremendously, and we see it does the same generation upon generation -- and that's wonderful."

Todd Miner, COE's executive director, spoke of the importance of COE's broader role at Cornell. "As more and more of our young people grow up with 'nature deficit disorder,' they don't have that connection to the outdoor world," he said. "COE has a strong role at Cornell, helping Cornell students balance that rich academic tradition with that experiential aspect of giving students real, concrete responsibility, the chance to test themselves, to stretch that little bit and to get out of their comfort zone."

Following the speakers, Rupert honored eight COE founders and friends with a "honorary carabiner award" -- a large carabiner mounted on a base with a plaque reading, "COE 40 Thanks."

"All of us who believe in and support COE do it because of the students," Rupert said in closing. "Because in the end, it is all about the students."

David Kessel is a freelance journalist in New York City.