NIU Today

Students at NIU’s Health Professions House are collecting used eyeglasses to distribute during an alternative spring break trip the Mayan communities in Chiapas, Mexico. Both prescription and reading glasses are sought and can be dropped off through March 1 at Wirtz Hall 227 (dean’s office) or sent through campus mail addressed to Sandi Splansky, Wirtz...

Do you have a passion for service and leadership – and love to travel? Become a Huskie Alternative Breaks (HAB) site leader. NIU’s HAB program presents students with non-traditional opportunities to travel to various communities in the nation and abroad during the university’s winter, spring or summer break to participate in service projects. An alternative...

Huskie Alternative Breaks (HAB) has openings for its international alternative break trip being held from May 15 to May 22 in Nicaragua. An alternative break is a service-learning trip where a group of college students engage in volunteer service during a designated university break. Alternative break trips allows students to engage in hands-on service experience,...

The Health Professions House is collecting new, unused, toothbrushes for a special project that is part of an alternative spring break trip. School of nursing instructor JoEllen Ryan, along with 10 NIU students and two recent graduates, will travel to Chiapas, Mexico over spring break to provide free health assessments and treatment to the Mayan...

Huskie Alternative Breaks (HAB) will offer NIU students the chance to participate in eight alternative break trips throughout the 2015-2016 school year. An alternative break is a service-learning trip where a group of college students engage in volunteer service. These break trips occur on weekends, during the university’s winter and spring breaks and during May...

Rather than soaking up rays on a beach in Florida, eight NIU students spent their spring break helping Living Lands and Waters clean up one of the world’s most famous waterways, the Mississippi River. Living Lands sponsored the clean-up in Memphis, hosting students from NIU and 15 other universities across the country. The students spent...

The holiday season is just around the corner: Don’t wait for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s time to shop Fair Trade Wednesday and Thursday. NIU’s Sociology Student Organization is hosting its annual Fair Trade Gift Sale in partnership with Just Goods from Rockford. A portion of the proceeds supports the Department of Sociology’s Alternative...

Now that you survived Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s time to shop Fair Trade Wednesday and Thursday. The Sociology Student Organization is hosting its annual Fair Trade Gift Sale in partnership with Just Goods from Rockford. A portion of the proceeds supports the Department of Sociology’s Alternative Spring Break Habitat for Humanity trip. This...

Nearly 50 NIU students put a new spin on spring break this year, forsaking the stereotype of sun-drenched partying to volunteer across the nation. Their activities were part of NIU’s Alternative Spring Break program, which began in 2009. “It began with one trip to Galveston, Texas, to assist with clean-up following Hurricane Ike, which hit...

NIU students who hunger for adventure and accomplishment on an Alternative Spring Break next month have four choices to satisfy their appetites. They can travel to Washington, D.C., and help the hungry or homeless or trek to Newark, N.J., and work with youths in the local Boys and Girls Club. For those service-minded students who...

More than 100 Northern Illinois University students are headed for warmer climes during the university’s upcoming spring break, but their main objective isn’t to soak up rays on the beach. Instead, they’ll be working with the poor in West Virginia, building homes for Habitat for Humanity in Florida and Tennessee, helping victims of Hurricane Katrina...

NIU’s office of Student Involvement and Leadership Development is offering three separate destinations for students interested in participating in Alternative Spring Break trips next March. Students can help rural Kentucky residents renovate their homes, tend to wildlife in Oklahoma or help children in Louisiana. Whatever the students decide, they will feel accomplished, connected and a...