Spring is in the air…
Okay, not quite. Here on the East Coast, the only thing in the air has been cold gusts of wind, snow, ice, sleet and freezing rain.
Nonetheless, spring break has at least arrived at the College, promising a mental vacation to those students and faculty enduring a tough spring semester. If you’re not lucky enough to be heading somewhere exotic for the holiday week, you can at least learn a thing or two about spring break from a pair of local experts, AAA Carolinas and the College’s own Steve Litvin, a professor of hospitality and tourism management who has studied spring break behavior. Here are a few things you may not have known about that most sacred College ritual, spring break:
1. Budget beach destinations rule.
When spring break first started to become synonymous with an excuse to cut loose, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. quickly became a popular destination for college students. It remained that way for decades, eventually hosting a record 350,000 students in 1985. Since then, other beach destinations have supplanted Fort Lauderdale. According to AAA Carolinas, the top spring break destinations today include Myrtle Beach, S.C., Panama City, Fla., Daytona Beach, Fla., Destin, Fla., and Virginia Beach, Va.
2. Most students, however, don’t go anywhere exciting, with a few exceptions.
For the majority of college students, spring break is spent on campus or at home. According to a survey of more than 200 College of Charleston students done by College professor Litvin, 54 percent of students remained on campus or visited their homes during spring break. An additional 15 percent of students said they were traveling, but to “non-party” destinations.
Among the more exotic places College of Charleston students are traveling this year are Seattle, San Diego, Portland, Las Vegas, London, Nicaragua, the Bahamas, Chile, Germany, Brazil, Ireland, the Turks and Caicos, Honduras and Nova Scotia.
That’s not all. The College’s Bonner Leader program is heading to Cuba with 13 students who will be immersed in the island nation’s history and culture.
3. Students like to party, but not any more than usual.
Litvin’s main conclusion from his study of students on spring break revealed that while some students do enjoy an excess of intoxicants and other risky behaviors during spring break, they don’t do so at a rate that is any different from typical behavior on campus or at home. In other words, most college students behave the way they always do on spring break, it’s just that the setting may be different.
4. Cruises and all-inclusive resorts are becoming more popular.
According to Litvin’s students, more and more people are choosing all-inclusive Caribbean cruises and resorts for spring break. Some of these cruises leave from the port of Charleston, making for an easy escape.
5. More students are volunteering and embracing alternative spring break.
Not every college student needs to feel the sun to have fun. In 2015 the College has organized five Alternative Spring Break trips across the country for 50 students, faculty and staff who want to volunteer and learn during their week “off” from class. The trips include:
- Examining farmworker health in Miami
- Exploring female empowerment in Miami
- Discussing disabilities and the arts in Nashville
- Helping the Snowbird Cherokee community in Maryville, Tenn.
- Investigating the environmental effects of hydraulic fracking in Glenwood, Colo.
Learn more about the College’s Alternative Spring Break programs
On one last note, it’s worth mentioning that professor Litvin met his wife, Allegra, on spring break in Miami during the late 1960s.
“I was a hot commodity because I had my grandparents’ car,” says Litvin, who was a freshman at the time.
A year later, Litvin and his wife were engaged. A year after that, they tied the knot. And 44 years later, the two are still happily married.
RELATED: Read Litvin’s full study on student behavior during spring break.
