Long Winter Weekend CSGC Trips

During Long Winter Weekend, the Center for Service and Global Citizenship hosted their first two travel programs of the 2024-2025 academic year. One program traveled to Washington, D.C., where nine students and three faculty members explored the freedom of speech, religion, press, and protest in the Constitution and its contributions to contemporary life. Another program embarked to the Florida Everglades, where eleven students and two faculty members learned to acknowledge the value of conservation of nature and natural resources.

History and Social Science Department Chair Brian Hamilton led the Washington, D.C. trip along with French Teacher Matthew Westman and Math Teacher John Dollhopf. Mr. Hamilton volunteered to lead the trip this year after having “had the pleasure of serving as an assistant last year when Dr. Friends led the trip.” He has always had a soft spot for Washington, D.C. since childhood, and as a current historian of the United States, he finds it “fascinating to see the way that the present and past intersect in the District.”

With the support of the Trustees, the Washington D.C. trip was able to experience “an unbelievable set of opportunities that do not come along very often in people’s lives,” according to Mr. Hamilton. In addition to meeting U.S. Senator Andy Kim from New Jersey, students watched one of the oldest television shows, Meet the Press, talked to Kristin Welker of NBC News, and met with Brett Kavanaugh, the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Justice Kavanaugh discussed the court’s history, landmark rulings, and what a day in the life of a justice looks like. He further elaborated on the importance of building trust in court, consistency, and decisions being listed as overruled.

Lucia Kinder ’28 noticed the connection between the political and legal fields, and reflected on why judges cannot and are expected not to be partisan and politically affiliated. “Yet in the current political environment, people tend to associate them with the parties of their appointees,” she said. Kinder found it interesting to see how Justice Kavanaugh “actually didn’t speak that freely,” which reflected “his perspective around a judge’s need for neutrality.”

Mr. Hamilton spent “an exciting time at Washington, D.C. with all the transformations underway with the new presidential administration.” As a “news junkie,” he said he appreciated getting to hear “different people in different positions in different institutions” around the city talk about what the changes underway meant for them. Setting aside “these once in a lifetime opportunities to meet these American luminaries,” Mr. Hamilton especially enjoyed getting “a chance to hang out with nine amazing students that very few of whom [he had] had the chance to speak with.”

Dean of Ethical and Spiritual Life Jan Flaska led the Florida Everglades trip alongside Chemistry Teacher Cynthia Fidanza. Mr. Jan proposed the trip, having been to the Everglades twice with Deerfield students prior to this year as a CSGC travel program. Referring to it as “a place like no other,” Mr. Jan said, “The Everglades is basically a reference to never-ending grass and a slow moving river of grass.”

Tommy Li ’28 recalled biking in the Everglades National Park. Despite getting his socks wet and being frightened by seeing alligators along the track, Li described this experience as “something he could not imagine back home.” Hailing from Beijing, China, Li had only been familiar with industrialized life—far away from nature—before travelling to the Everglades. Li said, “The Everglades is one of few places where nature is preserved in the modern day, and where creatures are thriving.”

In addition to Li’s reference to the Everglades as a place “as pure in its natural form,” Mr. Jan added that there is always something new in the Everglades. “There is a bird you have never seen before. There is the biggest gator you have ever seen. There are tree trunks coming out of the water,” Mr. Jan said, “You don’t need a guide to see how remarkable the place is.”

Adriana Enriquez ’28 described her favorite moment of the Everglades trip. When she was three-quarters into the 15-mile bike ride in the Everglades National Park, she “stopped and took a second to realize how vast this place really was.” Enriquez said, “It just stretched for miles and miles. It was beautiful.” Enriquez applied for the Everglades trip because she had never gone to a National Park before. “My family isn’t really into the outdoors, so I don’t think I would have had the chance to travel to a national park if it wasn’t for this trip,” Enriquez said.

The Long Winter Weekend CSGC programs helped students to gain a deeper understanding of the world around them, continuing to provide them with a global perspective hard for them to see in their daily lives. Six CSGC programs will embark to Spain, the American South, Panama, Tanzania, the Bahamas, Berlin, Prague, and Krakow during spring break. Seven more CSGC programs will head to the Dominican Republic, Italy & Sicily, Mexico, China, Croatia, Balkan nations, South Korea, and the Connecticut River during summer break.