Alternative Student Breaks provides students with a unique service-learning opportunity during winter and spring breaks and Pre-Wildcat Welcome Week. It has had a strong presence on the Northwestern campus since its inception in 1994. In the past 17 years, ASB has sent trips all over the country and abroad, often relying on the generosity of local churches to house our students at no cost for the week during which they volunteer. Usually, the people at these churches are more than happy to support our students and their dedication to volunteering.
However, this spring ASB had a different experience. In the quest for housing for one of our trips in southern Tennessee, we called dozens of churches, most of which were unable to help us for various reasons. Two days before trips went out, we found housing at a Baptist church, and the pastor seemed genuinely interested in our group and excited to help out. However, when we called to confirm the housing the next morning, he informed us that Northwestern had developed “quite a reputation” in the last few weeks. Apparently, their church “could not support any institution that would allow a professor to do that,” obviously referring to Professor Bailey’s demonstration. Instead of supporting a service-learning organization, that church and the ignorance of the pastor forced ASB to spend a lot of money to PAY for housing at another location, money that could’ve gone to any number of more beneficial causes. So even though no one from ASB had anything to do with Bailey’s demonstration, the organization had to suffer the consequences because of this one isolated incident.
As students at Northwestern, we are constantly chided and reminded to be aware of how we represent ourselves and the institution we attend to those outside of our community. Although we personally have no problem with Prof. Bailey’s actions, we think it’s important to emphasize that representatives of Northwestern, including faculty and staff, should be held to these same standards. Everyone representing the University should think of what kind of consequences their actions might have, both for themselves and for the institution, before going through with them. Obviously, no one could have predicted a situation like this, but ASB took a huge hit because of Professor Bailey’s actions.
-Jenny Haag
ASB Program Director
Elizabeth Machesky
ASB Program Director
