Thursday, February 26, 2009
Jenn Gapetz got involved with Ecumenical Christian Ministries Alternative Breaks three years ago when she saw a flier for the Border Immersion Experience, an alternative winter break that took students to El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. Gapetz, Fernandina Beach, Fla., senior, coordinated the trip the following year.
Now, as coordinator for the ECM-KU Urban Studies program, Gapetz is organizing a new Alternative Spring Break called “The New York Experience.” The Urban Studies part of ECM formed last fall and became an official student group in December. Gapetz said each ECM Alternative Break was distinctive and The New York Experience utilized New York City as a classroom.
“New York City is fascinating. I like opening up new worlds and new ways of thinking to people,” Gapetz said.
Ways to get involved in Urban Studies programs:
- Contact Jenn Gapetz at the ECM Urban Studies - Facebook group “I love ECM Alternative Breaks”
The program will focus on issues such as labor, economics, immigration, human rights, urban planning and cultural, social and political movements. The New York Experience will also focus on changing and endangered communities such as Manhattanville, where Columbia University’s $7 billion expansion plan entails leveling much of the existing neighborhood.
The program includes a tour of the United Nations, visiting Ground Zero, and tours and activities in the South Bronx, the Lower East Side and other famous areas of the city.
Program participants will stay at the Seafarers and International House, an Ecumenical Lutheran mission that advocates for and serves seafarers and workers on international cargo ships. Gapetz said the mission had a guest house available to anyone and that it was near Union Square.
Molly Green, Lawrence senior, said she chose to join the program because she wanted to do something different for her last spring break of college. Instead of a week in a more popular spring break location with her friends, Green said she wanted to learn from a culture that was different from the Midwest. She said she was happy to have the opportunity to experience a side of New York that people normally would not see.
“I am very excited about this program, and I think it will be a really fun and educational experience,” Green said. “It will give students the opportunity to see New York City from a different perspective than just the ‘tourist’ approach.”
Joshua Gapetz, Ocala, Fla., junior, Jenn Gapetz’s husband, also went on the El Paso and Juarez trip. That week, they visited a local publishing company, a grassroots after-school program and community center, and a midwife center to learn about the politics of birth on the border. Josh Gapetz learned about a variety of cultural, political, economic and social issues, from local, regional and national perspectives. He went because he was interested in learning more about the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), unions and maquiladoras, or factories in Mexico that imports materials duty-free and then exports the assembled product to the original country. Joshua Gapetz said the New York Experience program was different from other Alternative Spring Breaks because it would focus on an American city, specifically one of the cultural capitals of the country.
“We’ll be learning about New York from various levels beyond the shiny veneer,” Joshua Gapetz said. “I have a personal love for New York City. The excitement, the food, the music.”
Jenn Gapetz said Urban Studies was thinking of adding more Alternative Breaks next year to more cities such as Kansas City and Chicago. The program has no prerequisites.
“We want more people involved, which will affect what we talk about and do,” Jenn Gapetz said.
— — Edited by Carly Halvorson
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