Yale Outdoor Education Center

Located in East Lyme, Connecticut, the Yale Outdoor Education Center, or OEC, is a summer recreational facility for Yale community members. But given its season-opening schedule, students underutilize it. 

The center is located on a mile-long lake. OEC offers water activities including swimming, standup paddle boards, canoes, kayaks, rowboats, fishing and hiking trails, according to its director, Tim Migdalski. However, it closes after the Labor Day and is not operational during the academic year

“The OEC is unique among college campuses, ” OEC Director Tim Migdalski said. 

A portion of the land was purchased by the University, but a majority was donated for Yale’s use. The land’s mortgage on Pattagansett Road was renewed in 2011 for $300,000, according to publicly available state land records.

The center was previously known as the Yale Engineering Camp as engineering students conducted their summer fieldwork there. 

When civil engineering was discontinued as a major, Edward Migdalski, the late director of the Outdoor Education Center and father of Tim Migdalski, was given two years to try and turn the camp into a recreation center. He succeeded, and the camp officially opened as the Yale Outdoor Education Center in 1968. 

Camp Yale programs, such as Cultural Connections, and student groups take day trips to the OEC at the start of the academic year.  

“My time at the Outdoor Education Center was incredibly enjoyable,” said Solomon Geleta ’28, who visited the center as part of his Camp Yale program. “I got the chance to go kayaking, which is an activity I had never done before.”

The center is staffed by high school and college students living in the East Lyme area. During the season, the waterfront is also fully staffed with lifeguards and boating attendants, Tim Migdalski said. 

As the school year starts, workers return to school, and all center amenities are winterized in preparation for cold weather. 

The center attempts to engage with local communities in East Lyme. Each summer, residents can purchase family memberships. Additionally, Tim Migdalski said, OEC partnered with the town to develop public-access hiking trails. 

“I had no idea the Outdoor Education Center even existed, but it seems like it’d be a fun experience and I’d love to visit sometime,” Joshua Ofodile ’28 said.

The Outdoor Education Center will open on the third weekend of June of next year.