For more than three decades, Howard University Alternative Spring Break (HUASB) has answered the call to serve in marginalized communities around the world. Established in 1994, this nationally recognized service-learning program encourages students of all faiths and backgrounds to embrace Howard University’s motto, “Truth and Service.” Coordinated by the Office of the Dean of the Chapel, this student-led initiative is offered at no cost to participants. It empowers students to recognize the importance of ethical leadership, civic engagement, and communal responsibility.
This year’s theme, “Service with Impact: Empowering Communities and Dismantling Disparities,” honors HUASB’s enduring legacy of transformative service in communities throughout the globe. During this year’s program, more than 1,300 Howard students will serve in 23 domestic communities, focusing on various service initiatives, including community development, pathways to food and housing stability, education, holistic wellness, poverty, restorative justice, and youth empowerment.
HUASB is led by a steering committee comprised of 60 student leaders who volunteer their time and are responsible for planning, coordinating, and executing the program’s vision year-round. Unlike other universities’ alternative spring break programs, HUASB is entirely student-led. The committee ensures the program operates smoothly and delivers a meaningful service experience each year, creating spaces for connection and collaboration among students on campus and the communities in which they serve.
Among the members of this year’s steering committee is Ne’Keyla Amey, a site coordinator whose journey with HUASB began long before she arrived at Howard. In 2017, the U.S. Virgin Islands were devastated by two Category 5 hurricanes, Irma and Maria. Following the pattern of the response to Hurricane Katrina, a Category 5 storm that hit New Orleans in 2005, student leaders stepped up to aid relief efforts in the Virgin Islands. Amey recalls how HUASB visited her seventh-grade classroom in 2019.
“They exposed my classmates and me to the outside world and inspired us to dream big,” Amey said. “I decided I wanted to attend Howard University.” This year, she hopes that her and her fellow students’ efforts will expand young scholars’ understanding of the possibilities of higher education.
This year, HUASB student volunteers have expressed their commitment to forgo their traditional spring break and devote themselves to being social engineers in systematically underserved communities. The Office of the Dean of the Chapel is committed to ensuring that every student who wants to serve will be able to without financial barriers.
How You Can Help
We are asking you to give a gift to the Howard University Alternative Spring Break program and ensure that our students have the financial support needed to change the world through service this Spring Break. As you consider your giving options, we hope you will support our students in continuing this vital work in underrepresented communities.
Give today at giving.howard.edu/alternativespringbreak.
Taylor Vander, a computer science major, is co-executive director of HUASB, and Milania Maurice, a health sciences major, is HUASB’s director of training. Joseph Dillard is assistant dean of community outreach and engagement in the Office of the Dean of the Chapel.