Applications have closed for the 2024 Alternative Break Trips.

About the 2024 trips:

Student-led alternative spring break trips provide an opportunity for participants to learn about and take action to address the social justice issues affecting the partner sites. Trips will run March 16 – 23, 2024. Spring break housing, food, and access to a campus vehicle will be provided. There is a $100 participation fee for the trip; scholarships are available if cost is a barrier. Our two trips for Spring Break 2024 are:

Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center trip in Finland, MN (4-5 hour drive north from Northfield).
Food and Community, a local trip for which students will stay on campus and work with Sharing Our Roots, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Organics Recycling Facility, Curbside Compost Cooperative, and the Community Action Center food shelves.

Read more about last year’s trips here: CCCE Launches New Alternative Spring Break Trip Focused on Local Community.

Trip Leader Applications closed on January 28th.

Alternative Spring Break Participants at Sharing Our Roots Farm

Each year the CCCE sponsors trips over spring break focused on community engagement. These experiences are an opportunity to learn about and take action to address the social justice issues affecting the partner sites, both within the groups and with the Carleton community.

Specifically, participants will work with focused readings on these topics before departure, participate in active discussions with each other and the host communities, and bring reflections and experiences back to Carleton. The goal of these trips is to provide an opportunity for the small number of people the CCCE sends to gain a deeper understanding of these issues, and that they will use this knowledge to foster positive change in the Carleton community.

Students on the trip are expected to work together to document their experiences and come back to campus with ideas for a creative presentation for the Carleton community. They should reflect on the social and economic issues surrounding the theme of the spring break trip. In addition, the groups will come together for a reflection dinner to discuss how the trips affected them upon their return to Carleton.

The fee for the trip is $100. This covers the cost for the entire week-long trip entire: lodging, food, travel, events, and other activities provided by the program. These trips are made as affordable as possible to encourage anyone to apply. However, there is financial aid available if the cost is still prohibitive. A partial to full scholarship will be available for a limited number of participants.

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.”

Established in 2003 the Julianne Williams 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.” 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; amongst other things.

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.