The Midwest Outdoor Leadership Conference came to Kalamazoo College this past weekend! The conference was organized, led, and attended by undergrad students who shared a passion for the outdoors and the environment. Over 60 students from across the Midwest came to K to learn from each other, gain experience, and connect!

The conference, coined MWOLC, has been running since 2011 and passed between various colleges in the Midwest, including Kalamazoo College back in February of 2020. MWOLC is directed towards undergraduate students of any field, but particularly those with an interest in outdoor recreation and education, sustainability, or conservation. Students come to learn from both skill and leadership development workshops, which can vary from foraging to wilderness first aid to environmental justice initiatives to building outdoor career resumes. The best part about this conference is that it’s almost completely run by the students themselves, so it’s created to be accessible, useful, and engaging for all attendees. After sending a group of students to MWOLC at Earlham College last year, a group of student leaders at K decided they would take on the task of bringing MWOLC 2026 to Kalamazoo College. You can learn more about the history and details of the Midwest Outdoor Leadership Conference on their website.

The planning team, Maddy Moss ’26, Chloe Brown ’28, Ava King ’28, Zoë Allen ’28, and Josie Belsky ’28, worked closely with Outdoor Programs, mainly Greta Farley, Outdoor & Environmental Coordinator, and Jory Horner, Director of Outdoor Programs, to put on this conference. You can read more about their experience planning this conference and their goals surrounding it in this article by Andy Brown, Outdoor Leadership Conference Returns to K. These students have been planning the conference since last spring and dedicated their time, skills, and excitement into making the conference go smoothly.

MWOLC kicked off on Friday evening as students rolled in from Minnesota, Ohio, Iowa, and Indiana and set up camp in the Banquet Hall, eagerly chatting and laughing with new and former attendees. Over twenty out-of-state students joined K students in the Natatorium for a pool party movie night hosted by OSA, where they watched Wall-E and got to go for a mid-winter swim! The next morning, students ate breakfast and mingled, establishing connections and swapping stories. Then, workshops commenced, and everyone divided into the workshop of their choice sharing on conflict resolution, empowering women in the outdoors, wildlife photography, backcountry safety, conservation careers, and establishing what ‘wilderness’ means. Presenters included K students and staff, visiting student attendees, and members of the greater Kalamazoo community!

Out of state students also got a tour of the green spaces on campus, including the Grove, the Hoop House, Outdoor Programs, and the Dow Wildflower Sanctuary. They got a chance to see what sustainability looks like at K, from the new residence halls to the ESC and the Climate Action Plan to our composting program. These tours are typically built into the conference at each host university as a way of demonstrating how different programs or initiatives can function to inspire students to bring fresh ideas back to their campuses. The attendees also got a chance to visit the Kalamazoo Nature Center where they hiked, explored the KNC’s observational spaces, and learned some winter tree identification. After a long day of networking and learning, students got to unwind at the Zoo After Dark, which featured a rock wall, tote bag painting, and other crafts! The planning team waved goodbye to the attendees Sunday morning and sent everyone safely back home.

Attendees went home with fresh and funky ideas about outdoor leadership and environmental engagement at their schools and in their careers, while the planning committee celebrated the feat of gathering so many awesome people on our campus.

This conference sparks hope as many like-minded outdoorsy folks come together and devote a weekend to learning from each other’s varied experiences and sparking meaningful connections with open-minded leaders across the Midwest. This conference is a representation of the will of this community to gather, improve their skillset, and make change!