Hundreds of college students flocked to Atlanta and partied over spring break. Some of
Howard University's students were there, too, but they lent a helping hand to underserved
students in Atlanta and even Africa through the University's Alternative Spring Break
(ASB) program.

Hundreds of college students flocked to Atlanta and partied over spring break. Some of
Howard University's students were there, too, but they lent a helping hand to underserved
students in Atlanta and even Africa through the University's Alternative Spring Break
(ASB) program...more

By Jordan Duckens
Howard University News Service

WASHINGTON (March 19) – We sat anxiously in Cramton Auditorium, just minutes from boarding the buses for our respective cities.  Howard University’s First Lady, Paula Wetzel-Ribeau, Ph.D., who also serves as director of Alternative Spring Break (ASB), took some time to give all the participants some parting words.

She asked us to be careful, be respectful, pay attention to our site coordinators and to represent Howard well.  Then she reminded us of the ASB mission:  service to others.  For some of us, she said, that mission may have become real the moment we applied to go to one of five U.S. cities or Haiti...more

By Jordan Duckens
Howard University News Service

ATLANTA (March 12)  --- After weeks of preparation and a 12-hour bus ride from Washington, the time had come for Alternative Spring Break (ASB) to become a reality for Jaisa Gooden, a freshman at Howard University studying international business.

It was early Monday morning, the first day for ASB participants in Atlanta, and instead of lying on a beach or staying in bed until noon, Gooden was on her way to John Hope-Charles Walter Hill Elementary School in northeast Atlanta. The school sits just beside the Martin Luther King Jr. ...more

By Jordan Duckens
Howard University News Service

ATLANTA -- Alternative Spring Break (ASB) has become routine for Nasira Spells. This marks the third consecutive year the junior from Detroit has passed on Caribbean beaches, other vacation spots or even just a trip home so she could help others during her spring break.

After hearing about the program in her freshmen year through a friend, Spells looked further into the program and discovered the opportunity to go to New Orleans. ..more

By Jordan Duckens
Howard University News Service

ATLANTA (March 14) – There was one word that brought sophomore Nathaniel Gerald back to Atlanta for Alternative Spring Break (ASB) in 2012 -- sankofa.   The Ghanaian word expresses the idea of taking good things from the past in order to make positive changes in the future.

“One thing I was taught when I was younger was the meaning of ‘sankofa’,” Gerald said. “I’ve had a lot of positive experiences growing up where older people have come and invested a lot in me, pushed me along and taught me some things. So I just wanted to do that for someone else.” . ..more