The Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE) at Elizabethtown College recently announced their annual spring break service trip. From March 1 to 7, eight students will be visiting Georgia and Alabama to work with Tuscaloosa Habitat for Humanity and to visit sites such as the Voting Rights Museum & Institute in Selma, the Legacy Museum in Montgomery and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. 

While service has always been an important value for the CCCE, in the past two years, they have integrated civil rights into their service opportunities afterAnthony Ray Hinton spoke at a Leffler Lecture in 2022. Now an activist and author, Hinton was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1985 and was on death row in Alabama for 28 years. He was released in 2015. When CCCE director Javita Thomas connected with Hinton, he invited the CCCE to come to the Equal Justice Initiative in Alabama, where he worked. Since then, the CCCE and Center for Global Understanding and Peacebuilding (CGUP) have worked to develop a trip with important civil rights locations in the south and valuable service opportunities.  

For Program Coordinator of the CCCE, Leda Warner, this is a direct expansion of the College’s motto “Educate for Service.”

“By focusing on civil rights during our spring break trip, we are providing students an experience to see history through the lens of marginalized communities, increasing understanding about what the lived experience was like for members of those communities. We believe that understanding others’ perspectives is a critical skill for all students to develop, and the types of service-learning experiences we organize through the CCCE are designed to provide opportunities for students to increase their understanding of others,” Warner said. “At the CCCE, the way we interpret “educate for service” is to create experiences that assist students in developing a community-based frame of understanding, where they consider how to live a life of service that centers the common good and how to make their community better for everyone by upholding the dignity, wellbeing, and safety of all members of their community.” 

Students who have already signed up for the trip hope to gain perspective on civil rights in the South. Through visiting these sites during their break, students are being educated in a non-traditional and immersive manner. 

“I wanted to participate in something that would not only grow my perspective of civil rights but also educate me on the history of the important events that have led us to where we are today,” sophomore biology major and CCCE student assistant Mackenzie Laity said. “I wanted to be able to see things that I might already know through the perspective and experience of those who went through it. Also, just being able to volunteer with the CCCE wherever will always be my pleasure.” 

Alongside the benefits in gaining perspective and interacting with individuals from a variety of backgrounds, students going on the trip get direct experience working in construction.  

“The beauty of experiential learning is that you get to add context to what you’re learning about in the classroom. To be in those places and experience those things while hearing from people who were there when it happened, brings history to life in a way that can’t be replicated elsewhere,”  Warner said. “On top of that, we got to learn some new home building skills while serving Habitat for Humanity. It is always a fun experience for students to start the day unfamiliar with anything related to home construction and end the day knowing how to use a nail gun, put shingles on a roof, or cut and install siding on a house.” 

Since only eight students can sign up for this trip, the list for signing up fills up quickly. Students who want to be added to the waitlist can do so by emailing civicengagement@etown.edu. Additionally, since the trip does not appeal to everyone as some students may choose to not give up their break, the CCCE has other opportunities this semester to get involved.  

The annual Spring Day of Service will be held on March 28, where participants will pack kits to help people experiencing homelessness, and a monthly service event will be held on April 25 to serve with YWCA Lancaster helping to prepare for their annual Race Against Racism.

Any additional information about the ongoing efforts of the CCCE can be found on their Instagram at @etowncivicengagement or through their monthly newsletter via email.