Giving Back Instead of Kicking Back: Alternative Spring Break 2018
Instead of relaxation, 16 Hawkeye Service Teams spent their spring break supporting underserved populations across the country. The trips—listed below—are part of the UI Leadership & Service Programs' year-round efforts to promote service learning, social justice, and community building.
Atlanta
Mission: LGBTQ+ rights
Community initiative: Supported organizations
addressing youth homelessness,
AIDS, substance abuse, and
transgender issues.
"Instead of being embraced with open arms, they were kicked out of their homes."
– Darian Thompson, a sophomore public health and pre-medicine major, on the struggles LGBTQ youth face when coming out
Biloxi, Mississippi
Mission: Youth
health education
Community initiative: Partnered with an agency
that provides economic
security for women through
affordable child care and job
training.
Buffalo, New York
Mission: Urban development
"This is the kind of opportunity every institution should offer to students; it provides someone with the knowledge to positively change their campus, their local community, and themselves." —Rebecca Lyons, freshman with an open major
Columbus, Ohio
Mission: Criminal justice
system
Community initiative: Worked
with organizations that
address the needs of "at-hope"
students who walk the fine line
between school suspension and
incarceration.
Dallas
Mission: Public health
Denver
Mission: Immigration (sponsored by UI Residence Education)
Detroit
Mission: The arts
"The resilience and passion of Detroiters was clearly seen through art as they used these art forms to promote positive development in their community." —Anagha Inamdar, a senior majoring in human physiology
Indianapolis
Mission: Food justice (sponsored by UI Fraternity & Sorority Life)
Kansas City, Missouri
Mission: Youth education (sponsored by the UI Center for Advancement)
"It has reassured me that becoming an educator is what I am meant to pursue in my life, and that serving students is my true passion. I will hold so many fond memories of this experience, and it has pushed me to want to get even more involved in serving my own community, here in Iowa City." —Maddy Wagner, a sophomore political science major seeking secondary education licensure
Little Rock, Arkansas
Mission: Children's
health (sponsored by
UI Dance Marathon)
Community initiatives: Served
a children's hospital, a child care
center at a homeless shelter, and
a domestic violence shelter.
Louisville, Kentucky
Mission: Public health
Community initiatives: Served at a food pantry,
a shelter for HIV-affected
individuals, and at a nonprofit
for families affected by tobacco
and alcohol abuse.
Memphis, Tennessee
Mission: Racial justice
(sponsored by the
Being Black at Iowa Project and
UI Residence Education)
Community initiative: Sixteen UI
minority students from the the
Young, Gifted, and Black Living
Learning Community; Hubbard
Scholars; and Sista Speak
created community with others
who have experienced similar
struggles.
Milwaukee
Mission: Housing (sponsored by the UI Certificate in Fundraising and Philanthropy Communication)
St. Louis
Mission: Education
equity (sponsored by
the UI Center for Diversity
and Enrichment)
Community initiative: UI
students from underrepresented
populations worked with
elementary schools largely
composed of low-income and
minority students.
"It was the most meaningful thing to me ever walking into a kindergarten classroom and having a little girl's face light up because we had the same hair." —KayLynn Harris, a junior English and political science major seeking a certificate in fundraising and philanthropy communication
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Mission: Food justice
"The opportunity to meet all the patrons who came to the soup kitchen while we served there and hear their stories was beyond rewarding. This was a moment when my heart felt full, and I truly realized what it meant to serve with a community." —Alex Marti, a sophomore majoring in Chinese and human health and physiology
Washington, DC
Mission: Economic
disparity (sponsored
by the UI Tippie College of
Business)
Community initiative: Explored
business concepts by serving
with and learning from
nonprofits.