By Ben Warton

Students will trek to Camp Tonkawa for a camping trip with the ACU Venturing and Scouting group Friday.

Just outside the city limits, group members will enjoy shooting, archery, canoeing, nighttime devotionals and a late-night Capture-the-Flag game, said Nathan Williams, director of Venturing and Scouting relationships.

The group planned this trip to bring members closer together, said Sommerly Simser, associate adviser for the group.

“We saw that many members of the group didn’t know each other that well, and we realized that there was a need for us to do some sort of small-group activity,” said Simser, senior broadcast journalism major from Las Vegas. “It’s hard, especially for freshmen, to relate and communicate with people they don’t know. With this trip, we get to learn more about each other and hopefully become a stronger group.”

The trip will be a chance to scout out potential officers, as well.

“We also wanted to have this trip so that members could see who stands out as leaders in the group,” Simser said.

The trip is one of many the group has taken since it started operating on campus. Several members of the group went on a 12-day backpacking trip to

Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico this past summer, Williams said.

The Venturing program is a coed group designed for ACU students up to age 21. Any student can join, although it is made up primarily of students who were involved with Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts; many of the members receive scholarships for their achievements in scouting. Several attempts were made to launch the program in the past, but this is the group’s first year as an official campus organization, Williams said.

The group meets for Chapel in the AT&T Theatre in the Hunter Welcome Center every Wednesday and is open to anyone. Members of the group who are receiving scholarships are required to attend and be as active in the group as possible, Simser said.

For more information about the ACU Venturing and Scouting program, visit the ACU Venturing Facebook group.