skip to content

Community Outreach

Alternative Breaks - Week Long Trips

Washington DC, Alternative Break Trip January 5-12, 2008

General Program Information
Issue Focus: Women, Children and Political Action
Cost of Trip: $250.00 **
Student Trip Director(s): Lauren Donnelly, Trip Director (lauren.donnelly@uconn.edu)
Acceptance of Applications: August 24, 2007
Application Deadline: September 28, 2007 at 5:00pm
Notification of Participation: October 5, 2007
Trip Leaves: January 5, 2008
Trip Returns: January 12, 2008

** Price may vary with group fundraising projects.

The application deadline has passed.

Life in Washington DC

America is the most powerful nation in the world, and yet, in many ways, women are still underrepresented in the political forum.

  • Only 16% of the leaders in Congress are women. At 48.8%, Rwanda has the world’s highest proportion of female members of parliament (www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org).
  • Out of all 50 states, a mere 9 have female Governors, and in only 4 states is there a woman serving as Attorney General. (Center for American Women and Politics)
  • Only 20 women of color have ever been elected to Congress. (Center for Women and Politics)
  • But there’s good news! More and more, women are making strides onto the political stage. To name only a few: in 1993, Janet Reno became the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney; in 2005, Dr. Condoleezza Rice became the first Republican woman and the first African American woman to serve as Secretary of State; and in 2007, Rep. Nancy Pelosi became the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House!

This trip offers students an opportunity to engage with tough issues surrounding the broad aspects of gender and how it affects politics and society at large. We will spend time with women from across the spectrum, meeting with female politicians to learn the stories of their success, as well as spending time working with women in the D.C. community who struggle with gender oppression every day.

Trip Preparation

In preparation for this exciting week-long trip, students will discuss the many ways that gender and oppression manifest themselves in our daily lives. The group will meet weekly to discuss relevant readings; do team building exercises and speak with people in the community who are working around these important issues. These once a week meetings average about an hour and a half and are mandatory for participants of this program.

Trip Description

The group will meet weekly at the Women’s Center (4th floor, Student Union). Dates and times for these meetings will be decided based on the group’s availability. From there they will drive to Washington D.C. in Community Outreach vans. The group will be participating in many varying service opportunities throughout the week and will hear from important women in our nation’s capitol!

At the end of each night the group will meet to reflect on the days activities. This is a drug and alcohol free weekend and we expect the group to stay together at all times. This will be a great opportunity to learn about how the United States government operates and to have a lot of fun!

The sites change year to year given the agency need and the week chosen. At each site the group will be given an orientation to the organization in which they will be doing the service. At the end of each night the group will meet to reflect on the days activities. This is a drug and alcohol free weekend and we expect the group to stay together at all times.

More Questions?

« Back to top