Alternative breaks: The integration of community engagement and social justice

Alternative Breaks is a national practice among higher education institutions in the United States: programs vary in structures, but essentially students and staff/faculty participate in a week of service and education in another community, domestically or internationally, around a specific social issue. The following thesis is an exploratory study of students perceptions of the social justice and alternative breaks. Break Away (the national alternative break organization) has established two foundational components and guidelines for running high quality alternative breaks as well as fostering students who are committed to their communities. The University of Utah (named Break Away's 2014 "Program of the Year" untilizes those foundational components and guidelines in order to create intentional trips which have positive community impact and a strong push for students to see themselves as Active Citizens (people who put community as a priority in values and life choices). 2014-2015 was the pilot year for University of Utah's AB program to host mandatory social justice trainings for all alternative fall and spring break participants with the intent of using social justice as a lens for the service and education involved with each trip's social issue. University of Utah's Alternative Breaks continues its work as a leader in the national movement: an opportunity for students, regardless of field of study, to partake in an immersive service learning experience that will propel them forward on the continuum of Active Citizenship.