SUPPORT FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF ALTERNATIVE BREAK TRIPS AT THE U OF R

TRAVEL! MAKE AN IMPACT! HAVE NEW EXPERIENCES!

The idea of an alternative break trip is to provide students with an opportunity to engage with communities throughout the nation and the world, provide service to non profits or other organizations, alleviating social issues and leave a positive impact. Additionally, break trips at other schools allow students to travel, get experience in a field they’re interested in and provide them with a new perspective they may not have previously had.

While the University of Rochester offers some alternative break trips, they are all through very specific clubs or sororities which is not accessible to the entire student body. I believe the University should engage in creating an established alternative break trip program for fall break, spring break and winter break but I think spring break would be a good place to start. These trips would require applications and would probably take 10-12 students, last 3-7 days and require trip leaders.

Some examples from other schools:
Oswego College – Virginia National Park Trail Repairs, Nazareth farm (West Virginia) low income home repairs, Appalachia Service Project repairing infrastructure

Middlebury College – Environmental Justice in LA, Immigration Advocacy in San Diego, Sustainable Farming in Guatemala, Public Health Advocacy in NYC, Sustainable Community Engagement in Costa Rica

Nazareth University – Community & Resilience along the US-Mexico Border, Ecosystem Recovery and Community Resiliency in Puerto Rico, A Cross-Section of the Social Systems of Chicago, Practices of a Sustainable Living Community in Pennsylvania

University of Buffalo – healthcare reform in Toronto, Civic engagement in DC, Criminal Justice Reform in Pennsylvania

RIT – Common Ground Relief: Wetland Preservation & Community Development in New Orleans, La. Trip Cost: $675, Grow Ohio Valley: Food Justice in Wheeling, W.Va. Trip Cost: $350, Campus Pride: Cultivating Inclusive Communities in Charlotte, N.C. Trip Cost: $550, American Hiking Society: Protected Land Policy in Cloudland Canyon State Park, Ga. Trip Cost: $550

As you can see, this is an extremely common practice across many colleges, regardless of prestige. It provides invaluable experience and growth opportunities for students, which after all is what college is all about. If you were to continue doing a google search, you would find hundreds more programs like this at college all across America. As a well known school, I believe the University of Rochester should work towards developing an equitable program like this with applications open to all students and financial aid and partial or full subsidizing of the cost. I am aware this is not a cheap endeavor, however we have appx a 3.2 billion endowment, which is more than the endowment of some of the college that already offer this. I think this would be a worthy topic to begin having a conversation about, as it would provide so many opportunities to many students.

This can start small and grow. For instance, Hamilton College says “The Alternative Spring Break program was started in 1993 when 20 students traveled to Miami to work on Hurricane Andrew relief with Habitat for Humanity. In subsequent years, the number of participants has steadily increased.” Even by starting with 1 or 2 trips, we would be providing the groundwork for this program to grow. I dearly hope you consider this.

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