Behrend's Alternative Breaks (BAB) Program is a recurring program offered through Civic and Community Engagement. The service trip aims for participants to make a positive, lasting impact on the communities they serve.
Since 1996, we have been offering a week-long Alternative Spring Break service trip that provided participants—24 students and four trip advisers—with a complete immersion into a community that may be very different from their own.
We have recently expanded to also offer an Alternative Fall Break as a weekend-long option.
These experiences are designed to engage students on multiple levels including personal development, group and team dynamics, and public service. Through the process of reflection and civil discourse, participants are challenged to grow as individuals and rethink previous assumptions about others and society as a whole.
Student participants and trip advisers are selected from an application process. All full-time, matriculated students are eligible to apply. In addition to the application review, applicants may be evaluated on academic/GPA standing and conduct.
Trip Highlights
- ASB 2024: Community Resilience project, Puerto Rico
- ASB 2023: Hurricane Ian disaster relief, Fort Myers, Florida
- ASB 2022: Live Local, Serve Local, Erie, Pennsylvania
For updated Information on the ASB 2025 trip, visit the Alternative Breaks website.
Support Behrend's Alternative Spring Break
There are several ways you can support this experiential program:
- Donations: If you're interested in a one-time donation you can do so directly, at any time, through our secure Giving to Penn State site.
- Major Gifts: If you would like to discuss a gift or an endowment with the program coordinators, please contact us at 814-898-6609 or [email protected].
- EcoCoins: Support Alternative Breaks by using a reusable bag or refusing a bag at the Behrend Bookstore. Each time you skip a plastic bag, the Bookstore donates an EcoCoin to the program, which is converted to cash to aid our students' service efforts.