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Alternative Breaks

If you're looking to get involved and make a difference through community service, then Alternative Break is for you. Alternative Break, hosted through Leadership and Service, a unit of the Dean of Students Office, provides students of Illinois State with opportunities to enact social change. Alternative Break takes participants locally, nationally, and globally to help meet needs in the community. Students can volunteer to help build homes for the homeless, feed hungry families, tutor young children, and much more.

Alternative Spring Break

Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is a week-long service opportunity in which participants travel across the country to help meet needs in various communities. Past participants have helped Hurricane Katrina victims, tutored teenage refugees, served individuals with HIV/AIDS, and more.

Since its inception over a decade ago, nearly 1000 students have participated in ASB. Participants examine the root causes of the social issues they address 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.

Participants learn lessons in compassion and service that cannot be taught in the classroom alone, as well as the value of serving suffering families and individuals in need.

Alternative Winter Break

Alternative Winter Break (AWB) is a 10-day service opportunity where participants travel internationally and domestically to meet the needs of other communities.  These two trips, occurring during the academic winter break, focus on many different social issues like education, affordable housing, environmental, and much more.  Learn to become a citizen of the world through strong direct service and reflection, and connect with other students who are looking to make a difference.

Students who are selected to serve on the trip participate in bi-weekly pre-trip meetings throughout first semester to help educate themselves on the language and culture of the location they will be serving.

Club AB

Club AB consists of individuals striving to be active citizens; people who value the community as a priority when making decisions in their daily lives. The group focuses on the education of issues surrounding the world and making a change through positive decisions and strong direct service in the community. Activities include educational sessions, social events, local service projects, and a weekend service trip.

Club AB meets in Schroeder 212 every other Wednesday at 5:45pm.

All students are invited to participate in Club AB regardless of if they have participated in Alternative Breaks.

History of Alternative Breaks at Illinois State

1986-2000: Trips provided through campus ministries, religiously-affiliated trip of 15

2000-2006: Office of Student Life began working with the trips; various versions of student-led groups of 15, all of which occurred over Spring Break during this time

• 2000: ASB started to be a student-led program
• 2001: ISU became affiliated with Break Away: The Alternative Breaks Connection
• Student Co-Coordinators held main responsibility for planning

2006-2007: 135 participants, 3 trips

• ASB: Three buses of 45
• Student leader Executive Board responsible for pre-trip planning, student leader site facilitators implement trip 

2007-2008: 135 participants, 3 trips

• ASB: Three buses of 45
• First year that applicants outnumbered spots available; this has been the case every year since
• Spent Spring of 2008 budgeting and planning for the first ever international trip (AWB-I)

2008-2009: 196 participants, 5 trips

• ASB: Four buses of 45; AWB-I: One group of 26
• First year ASB sent 4 buses
• First ever international Winter Break trip to globalize ISU student service opportunities

2009-2010: 161 participants, 4 trips

• ASB: Three buses of 45; AWB-I: One group of 26
• ASB reduced domestic trips to sustain the international trip, paid for through the Dean of Students Office 
• AWB solidified as a tier of the Alternative Breaks program 
• Executive Board was still predominantly responsible with trip logistics planning

2010-2011: 266 Participants, 6 trips +yearlong service

• ASB: Five buses of 45; AWB-I: One group of 26; Club AB: 15 participants throughout year
• ASB name officially changed to Alternative Breaks to encompass all programs and trips
• Organizational overhaul: The Executive Board shifted responsibility to long-term planning and program wide oversight; AWB, ASB, and Club AB each had a student Coordinator on the Executive Board responsible for training Trip Leaders, and general oversight of each program 
• AB Advising Team developed the yearlong Trip Leader Training Curriculum
• ASB formed partnerships with Greek Affairs to provide an all-Greek trip, and ISU/IWU Habitat for Humanity for a Habitat-themed trip
• ASB added Bus Leader, responsible for overseeing each bus’ Trip Leaders and planning
• Club AB was re-established for students unable to attend trip or interested local service throughout the year

2011-2012: 338 Participants, 9 trips + yearlong service

• ASB: Five buses of 46; AWB-I: one group of 26; ASB-D: one bus of 47; Club AB Weekend Trips: two vans of 15; Club AB: participants throughout year
• AWB added a 10-day domestic bus to increase lower-cost service opportunities over Winter Break
• Club AB increased the frequency of one-time service projects and is implemented an overnight weekend service trip each semester
• Trip Leader Training Curriculum assessed and amended; a yearlong general participant learning curriculum was created, implemented, and assessed; an on-trip reflection curriculum was developed, implemented, and assessed