Break Away draws activists

For the first time ever, representatives from 63 schools and 21 states congregated on the University campus this weekend to celebrate and promote the future of alternative spring break programs.

More than 300 people arrived in Ann Arbor to attend Break Away's Fourth National Conference, marking the first time the conference has moved from the organization's national headquarters at Vanderbilt University. The University's Project Serve and the Alternative Spring Break program organized the event, which included 52 workshops and many informal meetings for students to share ideas about Alternative Spring Break.

Alternative Spring Break is a national program that matches 20,000 students each year with 400 community-service sites in the United States and South America.

Thirty-eight years after President Kennedy announced the formation of the Peace Corps at the University, conference organizers said the University is a good place to discuss service issues.

MARGARET MYERS/Daily Members of community service organizations from universities around the nation knit hats for needy children as part of this weekend's Break Away program.

"The University of Michigan and Alternative Spring Break have a strong tradition of service," said Kevin Roberts, executive director of Break Away. "As a national organization, it's important for Break Away to travel around, and we couldn't think of a finer place to host this conference than the University of Michigan."

In the same week that President Clinton praised one of the University's diversity programs, issues of racial justice were prominent at the conference. Goodwin Liu, a Stanford alumnus and Yale law student, opened the conference with a speech that encouraged society to embrace diversity in order to achieve racial justice.

"Diversity has become a word to talk about race without using the word race," Liu said. "Diversity sees racial difference as a cause for celebration. We're not all Tiger Woods. We're not all half black and Asian. But Tiger Woods is the future. It's not the end, it is the means to racial justice."

Student activists from around the nation said the Break Away conference was a remarkable way to bring together young, service-oriented people.

"For my group, it helps us to tap into things we like to do, to generate new ideas," said Margaret Weeks, an organizer for the Catholic Network of Volunteer Service.

Conference Coordinator Sanjay Patel said Alternative Spring Break creates and sustains student service in communities.

"The Alternative Spring Break movement is moving," Patel said. "It's growing. Alternative Spring Break is one of the most successful ways to start movement and keep it up."

Participants said the weekend was more than an isolated conference on service. Roberts said the success of Alternative Spring Break and the Break Away conference sends a message to people who have power and resources to create change.

"Ten years ago, there were 40 student-led Alternative Spring Break sites, and last year there were over 400," Roberts said. "Students are stepping up to the plate and doing their part, and hopefully by their example the corporate population will use their time wisely to create more opportunities for their employees to do service."

Roberts said the experiences gained from Alternative Spring Break supercede partisan politics and budget constraints.

"Students from all across the nation are learning how to take spring break and turn it into productive time," Roberts said. "Spring break lasts seven days, but alternative breaks last a lifetime. Break away gives students the opportunity to serve, and we create in students a service ethic that lasts beyond graduation."

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