Most students will spend their Spring Breaks drinking, partying and hanging out with friends.
This isn’t the case, however, for 20 MSU students who will spend the holiday cleaning up the Gulf Coast area in Biloxi, Miss.
The students will participate in the event, which is sponsored by the United Way Worldwide, from March 11 – March 17.
The event was announced in a presentation last Tuesday by Dominique Calhoun, director of multicultural services at MSU.
“Alternative Spring Break is basically providing service to a community,” Calhoun said. “Students will clean up the Gulf Coast and help with park maintenance.”
He said students interested in the program will need to pay a $250 participation fee, which will include full accommodation, three meals a day, transportation and all program fees.
“We offered a limited number of scholarships up to $125 that students could qualify for,” Calhoun said.
The university has roughly $1,000 to spend on scholarships. The money will  be provided by student service fees. Some of the funds will cover transportation costs. The rest will be split into scholarships.
Twenty students have shown interest in the program already, and three of them have applied for scholarships, Calhoun said.
He said the program is appropriate for students who want to visit a culturally rich location and meet new people — students from all over the US will be able to participate.
“There are 72 available slots for students from the U.S.,” Calhoun said. “It is United Way’s decision who those will be. We can’t guarantee that MSU applicants will be accepted.”
The deadline for this program has already passed, but MSU is currently looking for other options for students who are interested, Calhoun said.
“We are in the process of organizing more events both in and outside of Wichita Falls,” he said. “Students who don’t get selected for Biloxi will have the opportunity to participate in other programs.”
Calhoun said this is the second annual Spring Break alternative MSU has offered.
The previous year, about 75 students participated in 3 different programs — two in Wichita Falls and one in Fort Worth.
“After carrying out a student survey, MSU found out that students are willing to spend between $100 and $250,” Calhoun said. “Based on that, we chose Biloxi as an interesting and affordable destination. Students will be able to get some cultural information, as well as contribute to a community.”