JMU Alumni Home/Overview

Alumni Service Break Trip Program:

Most people are familiar with the Alternative Spring Break programs that are offered at many universities. These programs partner small groups of students with national and international communities for a purposeful week-long experience designed to connect those students and community members in a way that enhances personal growth and learning, mutual awareness, and community service. These programs provide students with a positive alternative to partying on the beaches of Ft. Lauderdale and Cancun, working a part-time job, or sitting at home watching TV during their spring breaks.

The Alumni Service Break program was created to provide JMU alumni with similar alternative community service-learning experiences in the US and abroad. The JMU Alumni Service Break program is the first and, as far as we know, only program of its kind in the US. It offers new ways for JMU alumni to reconnect with the university community, establish new friendships, and gain a fresh view of the world in which we all live.

Alumni Service Break trips provide JMU alumni with a very unique, affordable, alternative vacation experience they are not likely to find anywhere else. Trip participants meet other alumni from all walks of life, learn about different cultures, work on community projects, and immediately see the difference they make in the community. It's a powerful experience that challenges your mental, emotional, and sometimes physical boundaries in ways you're not likely to experience in your day-to-day life.

For instance, alumni teams on previous trips to Dominica have worked on community projects to plant trees to curb erosion, initiate a trash collection program, build bookshelves and computer desks for the libraries and schools in several communities, teach in the local schools, and assist in the construction of several roads. In addition, the teams participate in recreational and cultural activities, and develop long-term cross-cultural friendships with people from the communities with which we've developed partnerships.

If you're a JMU alumnus looking for something different -- a new experience that will challenge you and offer opportunities to cultivate social responsibility and life-long learning -- we encourage you to check out the information included on this website. Alumni Service Break trips will definitely change your life!

This is what past alumni trip participants had to say about their experiences:

"The Alumni Service Break experience is something that you continue to learn from -- even after it's over and you return to your regular life. These are memories that will last a lifetime."

"This trip was the most rewarding thing I've ever done. The experience helped me to refocus on the important aspects of my life and gave me a fresh look at the world."

"It seems we're consumed by our jobs, our families, and a hectic, frenzied pace of life we want to avoid. For the first time in a long time, I feel that sense of optimism that there are good people out there trying to make the world a better place. It really does start in a village, but you can bring it back to your own town."

If you are interested in finding out more information about JMU Alumni Service Break trips, please click here to complete an electronic interest form and we will contact you.