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Break Away (organization)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Break Away is a national nonprofit organization that promotes the development of quality alternative break programs through training, assisting, and connecting campuses and communities. The organization has chapters on about 200 college campuses throughout the United States. Break Away holds training sessions for directors at each chapter school, who then train the student leaders and participants. An alternative break consists of a group of college students who serve a community with a focus on a specific social issue for a specific amount of time, whether it is a weekend or a week. Most trips are weeklong trips, with the majority over college spring breaks. 60% of trips occur over spring breaks and 15% occur over winter breaks. The social issue pertains to the community to which the group goes. Break Away emphasizes service-learning in which group members learn about the community they will be serving and how to avoid voluntourism. Break Away encourages student leaders, with each trip consisting of student leaders, student participants, a partner organization, and most of the time, a learning partner. By emphasizing the Active Citizenship Continuum and the Eight Components of a Quality Alternative Break, Break Away hopes to produce valuable alternative breaks, which will then lead participants to become more aware and active in their community. Break Away has about 200 chapter schools, more than 500 nonprofit partnerships, and thousands of participants and alumni worldwide. Just in 2014, there were a total of 1,551 trips with over 20,000 participants, which equates to over 1 million hours of service. Of the 1,551 trips in 2014, 1,334 were domestic and 251 were international.

History

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Two students, Michael Magevney and Laura Mann, founded Break Away in June 1991 at Vanderbilt University after the creation of Alternative Spring Break on the campus in 1987. While still at Vanderbilt University, the organization was funded by the chancellor's discretionary fund. In 2000, the organization expanded to Florida State University where it was housed by the Center for Civic Education and Service. In 2007, Break Away headquarters moved to Atlanta, Georgia where it shared a space with Hands On Network/Points of Light, which also had a goal of creating volunteer opportunities but for recent college graduates and alternative break alumni. The growth of Break Away accelerated considerably, around 20%, in the mid-2000s after Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast. In 2010, the organization saw another acceleration, this time in terms of international trips. With the early 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the organization created the Haiti Compact with five American colleges – American University, the College of William and Mary, Indiana University, Loyola Marymount University, and the University of Maryland – which organized trips to the country. The Compact sought to develop the best practice for international alternative breaks, specifically in aiding participants in overcoming potential harm to the community, while also increasing service-learning. The College of William and Mary originally committed to serving in Haiti for four years following the 2010 earthquake, but since they have extended it to eight. In 2011, Break Away struck out on their own again, although their offices remain in the Atlanta area—and are still cubicle-free.[1]

The organization has an annual budget of $160,000, which is mainly funded through chapter membership dues. Each year, the organization holds about 20 two-day retreats on college campuses to educate on fundraising, conflict resolution, and group building, which are attended by chapter directors and leaders. They also hold Alternative Break Citizen Schools, ABCs, which are weeklong leadership training sessions for students who lead their college’s Break Away chapter.

Active Citizenship

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The Active Citizen Continuum is the driving force behind Break Away. The goal for each person is to become an Active Citizen, which is achieved by going through each of the steps. Every person begins as a Member, someone who is not concerned with their role in social problems. A Member then becomes a Volunteer, someone who is well intentioned but not well educated about social issues, through exposure. That Volunteer starts to get an understanding for a particular social issue and becomes a Conscientious Citizen, someone who is concerned with discovering root causes and asks why. Finally, that Conscientious Citizen begins to take action and becomes an Active Citizen, someone who prioritizes the community and social issue into their values and life choices. The aim for the Active Citizen Continuum is to create citizens that are aware of social issues in the world and who commit to resolving those issues.

Eight Components of a Quality Alternative Break

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All components are equally important in order to create the best alternative break trips as possible.

  1. Strong Direct Service: Trips provide an opportunity for interaction and hands-on activities with a community.
  2. Alcohol and Drug-Free: This allows for group cohesion and development.
  3. Diversity and Social Justice: Not only do the communities in which the trips will occur embody diversity, the students who make up the groups do as well.
  4. Orientation: Before leaving for their trip, each group discusses the issue and learns about the community and the organization that they will be working with.
  5. Education: To go along with the emphasis of service-learning, members are educated on the social issue of their community and how their community and lives are associated to it as well.
  6. Training: Members learn basic skills to complete the tasks given to them by the organizations they work with in the community, such as learning how to use a handsaw.
  7. Reflection: This piece occurs during the trip, when leaders and members are encouraged to discuss their experiences to promote group cohesion and understanding.
  8. Reorientation: This piece occurs after the trip, in which group members are encouraged to take what they learned from their experiences on their trip and put them into place in their own community by finding organizations that relate to the social issue of their trip.

Voluntourism

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One of Break Away’s goals is to avoid voluntourism or volunteer tourism, which is a form of tourism in which travelers participate in volunteer work. By incorporating the service-learning aspect of alternative breaks, participants are able to learn about the community they will be serving prior to their arrival, which decreases the chances of tourism. Voluntourism can have the opposite effect of its intended purpose of helping a community, instead, it has been shown to generate potential harm to a community. For instance, in an orphanage in Cambodia, the presence of wealthy volunteers has slowed the market for adopting the orphans in the town. Through Break Away, participants are able to learn about the culture and the social issues within a specific community before their departure, which allows them to understand the community better.

Membership

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With around 200 chapters countrywide, Break Away has two levels of membership. The first level of membership is Associate, which has an annual fee of $350 and includes SiteBank access, ongoing Break Away consultation, access to resources, listing as an Associate Chapter, forum access, and 10% discount on trainings and products. The highest level of membership is Advantage, which is $700 per year and includes everything that Associate offers, as well as listing as an Advantage Chapter, 20% discount on trainings and products and one free Alternative Break Citizen School registration.

Institution Type
Agnes Scott College Advantage
Alma College Advantage
Alvernia University Associate
American University Advantage
Appalachian State University Advantage
Arizona State University Associate
Auburn University Associate
Baldwin-Wallace College Associate
Benedict College Associate
Black Hills State University Advantage
Bowdoin College Associate
Bowling Green State University Advantage
Bradley University Associate
Bridgewater State University Associate
Buena Vista University Advantage
Butler University Advantage
California Lutheran University Associate
Carroll University Advantage
Central Michigan University Advantage
Charleston Southern University Associate
Christopher Newport University Associate
Claflin University Associate
Clemson University Associate
Cleveland State University Associate
Coastal Carolina University Associate
College of Charleston Associate
College of William & Mary Advantage
Colorado State University Associate
Columbia University Associate
Community College of Baltimore County Advantage
Converse College Associate
Cornell College Associate
Davenport University Advantage
Davidson College Associate
Denison University Associate
Drury University Associate
East Tennessee State University Associate
Eastern Kentucky University Associate
Eastern Michigan University Advantage
Elon University Associate
Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Associate
Florida Atlantic University Advantage
Florida International University Associate
Florida State University Advantage
Framingham State University Associate
George Mason University Advantage
Georgia Southern University Advantage
Gettysburg College Advantage
Goucher College Associate
Grand Valley State University Advantage
Greenville Technical College Associate
Hamline University Advantage
Harper College Associate
Heartland Community College Associate
Illinois State University Advantage
Indiana State University Associate
Indiana University Associate
Iowa State University Advantage
James Madison University Advantage
Johnson State College Advantage
Juniata College Associate
Kansas State University Associate
Keene State College Associate
Kenyon College Associate
La Salle University Advantage
Lafayette College Advantage
Lasell College Associate
Lock Haven University Associate
Lone Star College Associate
Longwood University Advantage
Loyola Marymount University Advantage
Madison Area Technical College Associate
Mansfield University Associate
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Associate
Massasoit Community College Associate
Miami Dade College Advantage
Michigan State University Advantage
Middlebury College Associate
Midlands Technical College Associate
Millersville University Associate
Missouri State University Advantage
Missouri University of Science and Technology Associate
Mitchell College Associate
Montgomery College Associate
Mott Community College Associate
Mount Ida College Associate
Naropa University Associate
Nazareth College Associate
New York University Advantage
Newberry College Associate
Northeastern Illinois University Associate
Northern Arizona University Associate
Northwest Missouri State University Associate
Northwestern University Associate
Ohio State University Associate
Old Dominion University Advantage
Pennsylvania State University Associate
Pierce College Associate
Presentation College Associate
Princeton University Advantage
Radford University Associate
Ramapo College of New Jersey Associate
Rice University Advantage
Roanoke College Associate
Rochester Institute of Technology Associate
Rollins College Associate
Rowan University Associate
Rutgers University Associate
Saginaw Valley State University Associate
Salt Lake Community College Associate
Sam Houston State University Associate
Santa Fe College Associate
Skidmore College Associate
Snow College Associate
Sonoma State University Advantage
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Associate
Southern Methodist University Advantage
Southern New Hampshire University Advantage
Southern Polytechnic State University Associate
Southern Utah University Associate
Southwestern University Associate
St. Norbert College Advantage
Stanford University Associate
Stony Brook University Associate
SUNY Buffalo State Advantage
Temple University Associate
Texas Tech University Associate
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina Associate
Towson University Associate
Transylvania University Advantage
Tulane University Advantage
University of Alabama Advantage
University of Alabama in Huntsville Associate
University of Alabama at Birmingham Associate
University of Alaska Fairbanks Associate
University of Arizona Advantage
University of Baltimore Associate
University of California, San Diego Associate
University of Central Florida Advantage
University of Central Oklahoma Advantage
University of Colorado Boulder Advantage
University of Colorado Denver Associate
University of Connecticut Advantage
University of Delaware Advantage
University of Florida Advantage
University of Georgia Advantage
University of Idaho Advantage
University of Iowa Associate
University of Kentucky Advantage
University of Louisville Advantage
University of Maine Advantage
University of Maryland Advantage
University of Massachusetts Amherst Associate
University of Massachusetts Boston Associate
University of Miami Advantage
University of Michigan Associate
University of Michigan–Dearborn Associate
University of Missouri Associate
University of Nevada, Las Vegas Associate
University of North Alabama Associate
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Associate
University of North Carolina Wilmington Associate
University of North Florida Associate
University of Northern Colorado Advantage
University of Oregon Advantage
University of South Carolina Associate
University of South Carolina Beaufort Associate
University of South Carolina Upstate Associate
University of South Dakota Advantage
University of South Florida Associate
University of South Florida St. Petersburg Associate
University of Southern California Associate
University of Tampa Advantage
University of Tennessee, Knoxville Associate
University of Texas at Arlington Associate
University of Texas at Austin Associate
University of Texas at Dallas Associate
University of the Sciences Associate
University of Utah Advantage
University of Vermont Associate
University of Washington Tacoma Associate
University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point Associate
University of Wisconsin–River Falls Associate
Utah State University Associate
Utah Tech University (formerly Dixie State University) Associate
Utah Valley University Associate
Vanderbilt University Advantage
Vincennes University Associate
Virginia Commonwealth University Advantage
Virginia Tech Advantage
Warren Wilson College Associate
Wartburg College Advantage
Washington University in St. Louis Associate
Weber State University Associate
Wellesley College Advantage
West Chester University of Pennsylvania Associate
Whitman College Advantage
Widener University Associate
Williams College Associate
Winthrop University Associate
Wofford College Associate
Xavier University Advantage

References

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  1. ^ "History of Alternative Breaks & Break Away".
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