Each year the CCCE sponsors Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trips focused on community engagement. Students learn from community partner organizations and take action to address the social justice issues affecting the partner sites. Throughout the experience students reflect on the social and economic issues surrounding the theme of their trip.
2025 ASB Trips
In spring 2025 the CCCE ran two Alternative Spring Break trips. One of the trips traveled to Finland, Minnesota to work with Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center. The other trip focused on working with our local community partners:
- Sharing Our Roots farm
- The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) Organics Recycling Facility,
- Northfield’s Curbside Compost Collective
- Carleton’s Food Recovery Network
- The Northfield Community Education Center (NCEC) Food Shelf
Applications and Information for Spring 2026
Carleton’s spring break is March 17-29, 2026, and the Alternative Spring Break trips will happen during this break. Spring break housing and access to a campus vehicle will be provided, and meals will be provided from March 222–28. There will be a $150 participation fee, and scholarships are available if cost is a barrier to participation.
Check back later for application information and details about this year’s programming.
Past Stories
Learn about the Julianne Williams Fund
The Julianne Williams Fund
“The purpose of the Julianne Williams Fund is to reflect the essence of Julie, who she was and what she valued.”
The Julianne Williams Fund sponsors the CCCE’s Alternative Spring Break trips — annual opportunities for Carls to directly work with and learn about local organizing and social justice efforts.
Established in 2003, the fund aims to promote the safety and overall empowerment of young women, as well as promoting activities that promote mutual respect amongst all people and enjoyment of lives. Julie graduated cum laude from Carleton in 1994 with a degree in geology and was described as a “one-person peace corps” and a “catalyst for change … Whenever Julie had choices, she chose the path that valued people.”
Among other activities, Julie volunteered with Latino outreach services through ACT (now the CCCE); advocated against sexual and domestic violence with Take Back The Night; and worked for Prairie and Wood, an outdoor day camp for children that used to be based at Farm House.