Abstract
The Service and Justice Trips Program can trace its roots back to 1983 when a group of nursing
students took one of their school breaks to travel to Eastern Kentucky to do service work. Since then,
the Service and Justice Trips Program has grown in size and scope having helped thousands of Creighton
students live out the University’s mission to the service of faith and the promotion of justice.
Today, the Service and Justice Trips Program has built relationships both locally and nationally with
over 30 community partner organizations which serve host to our week and half week long trips. In
2010, about 300 students participated on a trip where they not only provided needed service, but also
immersed themselves into the culture of one of the host communities where they met local leaders,
learned about assets and issues facing the community, and built relationships with community members.
Each trip is site specific with the focus determined by the location. For instance, trips to El Paso and
Pilsen, IL focus on immigration and issues facing the Latino population in America; trips to West
Virginia, and Lincoln, NE, focus on environmental justice and sustainability; and trips to Cleveland and
the Siena/Francis House focuses on homelessness. Though each trip is unique, the seven pillars of the
program — service, justice, solidarity, simplicity, sustainability, community, and reflection — frame and
are incorporated into all trips.