SHSU Homepage

University Camp Open House Schedule For Nov. 14

Canoeing will be one of the activities offered when the University Camp opens next spring.

Recreational Sports will host the University Camp Open House on Friday (Nov. 14), from 3-8 p.m. with several fun activities available to the university community.

There will be several geo caches, or treasure hunts, followed by the super swing, where participants can swing at an arc of 140 feet. A tree-climbing demo will be provided along with interpretive hiking, where participants will hike while gaining knowledge about the future plans of the camp.

After an appetite has been built up, a BBQ dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m., followed by a bonfire and a fireworks show. Afterwards, feel free to stay and eat some s’mores and drink some cider.

Because the University Camp is under current development, this will be the first open house available to students, faculty and staff. However, the camp will soon be open to the entire Huntsville community.

According to Chris Mahlen, traditions camp and outdoor coordinator, the approximately 360 acres of land was given to the university by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and will be used to create a fully-developed camp.

It will be equipped with athletic fields for various sports, tennis courts, basketball courts, hiking and biking trails, a ropes course, a paintball course, a swimming pool, a Bearkat beach, primitive camping, cabins, picnic areas, group campfire sites, a boat livery, a fishing pier, a conference center, a dining hall, meeting spaces, and an interpretive center.

Steve Thomson, assistant director of outdoor recreation said, “I’ve been to other camps and nobody has a facility like this. Sam Houston State University truly has a one-of-a-kind outdoor recreation center on its hands.”

The university and Huntsville community will soon be able to use this new space for group activities, socials, team-building exercises and much more.

The purpose of the camp is to provide a space that can hold a wide range of outdoor recreation, and provide a fun place for the community to host retreats, meetings and conferences, according to the Web site.

While the pavillion is currently available for rentals, the camp will not open as a day use facility until the spring of 2009. Fees vary based on the activities chosen for participation and whether participants are a part of the university community or are outside the university community. A more developed fee schedule will be published soon.

The University Camp is located at 2245 FM 980 in Riverside.

The University Camp Open House will be part of Bearkat Family Weekend.

For more information about the University Camp Open House or camp rates, contact Mahlen at cxm04@shsu.edu or 936.294.1947.

- END -

SHSU Media Contacts: Amanda Beakley
Nov. 7, 2008
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu

This page maintained by SHSU's Communications Office
Director: Bruce Erickson
Assistant Director: Julia May
Writer: Jennifer Gauntt
Located in the 115 Administration Building
Telephone: 936.294.1836; Fax: 936.294.1834

Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu.

SHSU 'In the News'

Brian Domitrovic, assistant professor of history, appeared on Book TV (C-SPAN) May 1-2, speaking about his recent book "Econoclasts: The Rebels Sparked the Supply Side Revolution and Restored American Prosperity" (www.econoclasts.net).

Houston Chronicle education writer Jeannie Kever recently turned to Regents Professor of English Paul Ruffin for his views on university presses moving toward "digital books" as opposed to traditional ink-on-paper."We're fulfilling the ancient role of the university press, and that is to produce books," said Paul Ruffin, the Texas poet laureate for 2009 and director of the Texas Review Press at Sam Houston State University. "I don't want to give up the book because it is an art."