Program Director Dale Elshoff said Spartans Without Borders offers volunteer opportunities and a chance to improve quality of life around the world. While undergraduates are presented with numerous opportunities to get involved in volunteer work, Elshoff said this program aims to provide those same opportunities to those outside of college.

“Undergraduates have a lot of opportunities to do service through study abroad and other engagements — this is a way for those to get involved like our undergrads,” Elshoff said. “It’s also an ability to use their talents to make a difference in communities.”

After Elshoff received input from alumni who did programs such as study abroad during their undergraduate days, they said they felt as if they have lost the “MSU umbrella” that provided them the opportunity to engage in such programs. Parents of MSU students also reported to Elshoff that they wanted to participate in the same type of program after seeing how study abroad changed their student’s life.

“We designed Spartans Without Borders very loosely,” Elshoff said. “It doesn’t have to be international, it can be in Detroit. It doesn’t mean you have to be a student. It’s an opportunity to show the world that Spartans change the world and follow up on the ‘Spartans Will’ theme.”

The program continues to build off current relationships that MSU has with communities. Elshoff said they are working on a program in Belize and Rome for the future.

“These (communities) are relationships that MSU already has,” Elshoff said. “We have half-million of alumni that have talent and we want to put that to use.”

The first scheduled trip for Spartans Without Borders is taking place in Mérida, Mexico, April 4–13. The expected group of about 20 participants will be working on sites in Mérida that provide services to youth or older adults.

Among the projects to work on are developing promotional materials for both print and online, help teach English as a second language, work with older adults in the social work realm, and assist the local Salvation Army on getting donated computers in working order for the benefit of that community’s residents.

Elshoff said the trip to Mérida is just the beginning — the idea is that Spartans Without Borders will be in many communities across the globe and they will hopefully be making trips about four times per year.