ND
Nicholas Denegre
  • Environmental Earth Science
  • Class of 2014
  • Centerbrook, CT

Eastern Connecticut State University Student Nicholas Denegre of Centerbrook Member of Eastern's Outdoors Club

2012 Mar 1

Nicholas Denegre '14 of Centerbrook, CT, is a member of Eastern's Outdoors Club. Denegre is a Environmental Earth Science major. Denegre is vice president of the club.

The purpose of the Eastern Outdoors Club is to engage members in outdoor activities, instill an environmental ethic through service, and enhance the university experience through informal education and outdoor adventure. During the fall semester, members traveled to New Hampshire to climb Mt. Washington on an overnight trip. Approximately 20 students went on the trip and made the climb. The club also went whitewater rafting on class I-III rapids with 20 students and visited Buttonwood Farm in Griswold, CT where they went on a hay ride, "got lost" in a corn maze, fed farm animals and picked pumpkins.

More than 30 percent of the full-time students enrolled at Eastern now participate in at least one club/organization, an increase of almost 10 percent since fall 2008. Students who participate in clubs/organizations excel in the classroom and do better academically than students who do not participate. In spring 2011, 1,345 full-time students participating in clubs had an average GPA of 3.06, much higher than the 2.84 average for those students not taking part in any of the nearly 70 clubs/organizations.

Clubs/organizations planned and implemented almost 600 events last academic year. These programs have a direct impact on the daily life of all students on Eastern's campus. The programs range from social to educational, physical to spiritual, and civic engagement programs that equally affect the community.

Eastern Connecticut State University is the state's public liberal arts university. Eastern serves approximately 5,600 students each year on its Willimantic campus and satellite locations.