Alternative Spring Break
Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is a weeklong service opportunity during the University's Spring Break in which participants travel to help meet a need in a community. Since becoming a student organization in 2000, nearly 1,000 students have participated in ASB.
Participants examine the root causes of the social issues they work with through pre-trip education and reflection during the trip. Students meet with their team approximately five times prior to departure in March and two times after the trip. Past participants have helped Hurricane Katrina victims by working with KaTREEna in New Orleans, built homes with Habitat for Humanity in Georgia, served individuals leaving the prison system in Texas, cleaned the Mississippi River through Living Lands and Waters, and more.
Students will also enjoy one free day during their trip to enjoy the sites in their host city or in a city they travel through. This structure allows students to get to know a community and its residents on a deeper level to have a lasting impact!
Bus groups typically include 30 total participants with four student leaders and two staff trip advisors on board.
Participants learn lessons in compassion and service that cannot be taught in the classroom alone, as well as the value of serving individuals, families, and communities in need.
2026 Trips
Applications will be evaluated based on a rubric including attitude, teamwork, growth, and cultural competency. Please be thoughtful in your responses.
Trip options:
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Trip one: Living Lands and Waters, Saving the Mighty Mississippi through Restoration and Recycling (Tennessee)
- You will be doing physical labor with this experience-- for example: cleaning up trash in rivers and lakes, removing invasive plant species, etc.
- Participants will learn about water conservation, sustainability, and how daily actions impact the environment around us through educational sessions and conversations with LL&W crew members.
- Free day includes touring the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN.
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Trip two: American Hiking Society- Cumberland Trail State Park (Tennessee)
- Build and maintain trails in Cumberland Trail State Park.
- This includes hiking in 1-2 miles daily and digging out a new trail corridor with hand tools including a pick mattock, mcleod, rake, loppers and hand clippers.
- This is an exciting opportunity to help construct a completely new section of trail!
Fees
See our Costs and Payment page for information about trip costs, fee discounts, and our financial responsibility policy.