Applications are closed for 2026 spring break trips—check back in 2027!
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.
2026 ASB Trips
The CCCE will run two Alternative Spring Break trips from March 17–28, 2026. One of the trips will travel to Finland, Minnesota to work with Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center. The other trip will work with our local community partners:
- Sharing Our Roots farm
- Dakota Prairie Composting
- Northfield’s Curbside Compost Collective
- Carleton’s Food Recovery Network
- The Community Action Center food shelves
Spring break housing and access to a campus vehicle will be provided, and all meals will be provided from March 22–28. There is a $150 participation fee, and scholarships are available if cost is a barrier to participation.
Past Stories
Alternative Spring Break: Learning Under the Northern Lights
When most people think of spring break, they picture beaches, sun-soaked selfies, and maybe a little too much sunscreen. But for 21 Carleton students, spring break looked a little different—in the best possible way.
Spring Breakers and Changemakers: Looking Back at 2024 Alternative Spring Breaks
Some students use spring break to rest at home. Others travel to places like Miami Beach or Bourbon Street. Meanwhile, some use spring break to volunteer and think critically about ethical community engagement.
Alternative Spring Break from an Admissions Blogger Point of View
Lexi Wallace ’26 was able to share her experiences on the Finland, Minnesota, Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Alternative Spring Break trip. Read all about the trip from the drive, to the organic farm kitchen, to reflecting on sustainability at Wolf Ridge and Carleton, to snowshoeing, to befriending cats.
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.