Connecting HBCU Students to the Outdoors with Ron Griswell

Wild Ideas Worth Living

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4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ron Griswell is an outdoor educator and founder of HBCU's Outside, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting students at historically Black colleges and universities with nature. After taking a gap year from North Carolina A&T State University to work as an adventure guide, Ron discovered a deeper purpose in the outdoors. Motivated by the lack of outdoor opportunities at his HBCU, he launched a movement to make nature more accessible and inclusive. His work continues to inspire the next generation of outdoor leaders.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Whether he's dog sledding in Minnesota, snorkeling in Belize, or whitewater rafting in the Grand Canyon,
0:11.1	Ron Griswell has the time of his life when he's adventuring outside.
0:15.1	But what really feeds his soul is sharing those wild experiences with others.
0:20.5	As a recreationless, whether that's you're sitting in a hammock in a park
0:26.8	or whether you are kayaking for 21 days in Baja,
0:31.2	it is your mission to share those experiences with other people.
0:36.1	Because when you're able to share these experiences with other people
0:38.4	and get them inspired and also help them with accessing those things,
0:43.0	I think it creates a ripple effect
0:44.9	for that other people can also find themselves in these beautiful spaces
0:49.1	and become stewards as well.
0:55.1	One of the most pivotal events of Ron Griswell's life was when he took a break from
0:59.9	college to become an adventure guide.
1:02.7	Ron went to North Carolina A&T University, which is a historically black university,
1:08.8	also known as an HBCU.
1:11.9	His school didn't have a lot of outdoor opportunities, and taking a gap year was a leap of faith.
1:18.0	Fortunately, working as a guide helped Ron uncover a new sense of purpose.
1:22.5	He became determined to share his experiences with his fellow students.
1:26.4	That's why in 2020, he started a nonprofit called HBCUs outside.
1:31.7	I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is Wild Ideas Worth Living,
1:35.2	an REI Co-op Studios production presented by Capital One and the REI Co-Op MasterCard.
1:47.2	Ron Griswell, welcome to Wild Ideas Worth Living.
	...

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