The Ritt Kellogg Memorial Fund (RKMF) Expedition Grant supports Colorado College student's pursuit of multi-week wilderness expeditions in North America. Expeditions can receive up to $1,500 per person. Expeditions that exceed 21 days in the field are eligible for the Spirit of Ritt Award and may be funded up to $2,500 per person. For more info on proposal criteria, expedition considerations, examples of funded expeditions, and tips on writing your grant proposal, click on the images below.

The deadline for Expedition Grants is always the first Wednesday of Block 5 at noon.

The application can be found on Summit. Prior to the deadline there will be several information sessions during the fall semester, a slideshow of previous RKMF expeditions in November, and expedition planning clinics will be held throughout 4th Block.

The Office of Outdoor Education, is available year-round to discuss trip proposals with students. Even if you have no idea where you'd like to go or what you'd like to do, come visit us or email at outdoored@coloradocollege.edu for ideas.

Letter to Applicants

The Ritt Fund Advisory Committee wants students to understand that their expeditions should be responsibly planned and crafted with an emphasis and concern for their own well-being and safety.

Although the Committee looks to criteria to review grant applications and strives to select responsible participants to receive Ritt grant funds, Colorado College and Ritt Fund staff and volunteers do not oversee, supervise or take responsibility for any aspect of the expedition or other activity that participants choose to undertake.

You must understand that, in developing your own expedition, engaging in one guided by an outside organization, or in participating in outdoor education activities, your safety and well-being is not guaranteed. Outdoor or wilderness adventure or educational activities include inherent and other risks that cannot be predicted or controlled, and that can lead to minor or serious injury, property damage, or even death. Expeditions may take place in remote, mountainous and difficult terrain and often involve hiking, rafting, mountaineering, including technical rock and ice climbing, glacier travel and other activities. Inherent and other risks can include high altitudes, difficult terrain, sudden and severe weather, falling rock, and avalanche danger. Even well-planned trips, run by the most experienced guides, can result in accidents, injury, and death. That said, it is possible to plan a lower-risk trip with fewer objective hazards.

In receiving Ritt grant funds, and/or participating in a Ritt funded trip, you agree to accept responsibility for every aspect of the expedition or activity that you participate in, including the inherent and other risks of those activities. You will also be expected to sign the Participant Acknowledgment and Assumption of Risks & Release and Indemnity Agreement. Please refer to that Document (see the forms page) for a description of some of the risks associated with Ritt Fund activities, and your responsibilities.

Please pay attention to the criteria below and also in the proposal section. The success of your proposal and more importantly your trip, depends on preparing a thorough proposal. We have rejected numerous incomplete proposals in the past. Please sign the agreement as part of your proposal. All CC students requesting funding are required to sign this agreement.

Sincerely,
The Ritt Kellogg Fund Advisory Committee