For the first time this year, Virginia Tech is sending a second group to Flint. Civil engineering professor Marc Edwards, famous for testing and identifying poisoned water in both Flint and Washington D.C., is bringing a group of civil engineering students with him to Flint. James Madison College students hope to combine their expertise with that of the Virginia Tech engineers in order to create a comprehensive plan to rectify the Flint water crisis.

“We’re trying to guide some political policy structure with the people who specialize in civil infrastructure and figure out a way to make something happen for Flint and propose it to whoever is the right person to propose it to,” international relations sophomore Tyler VanHuyse said. 

The two Virginia Tech groups will be visiting at the same time as the James Madison students. The U-M Catholic student group will be visiting a week earlier.

Wolbert designed his alternative spring break based on his own experiences as an employee of St. John Church & Student Center in East Lansing. When he took St. John's students on Alternative Spring Breaks, Wolbert said he noticed two categories of service in these trips. Some focused on manual labor, while others focused on more personal community assistance. Each approach had its supporters and detractors among the participants. 

The Flint Alternative Spring Break group combines elements of both categories. For the first half of the day, students help out at organizations such as Habitat for Humanity or St. Luke’s NEW Life Center. They spend their afternoons at local schools, tutoring and leading after-school programs. Throughout Wolbert’s years coordinating the campaign, he said a total of 10,000 hours of community service have been completed by students in Flint.

In a more recent addition to the program, students will have the opportunity to meet with community leaders at night.

Participants have rated the program highly during its first six years. Wolbert said that students typically come away from the experience loving the city of Flint and its people.

“Flint has this magical pixie dust that, once it gets on your skin, you just have this affinity for the place,” Wolbert said. 

Wolbert was approached with the idea of a Flint Alternative Spring Break by Father John Grace, whom he first talked to because an intern had worked with him at James Madison University. After briefly practicing ministry in Chicago, Grace was called to Virginia Tech in the wake of the tragic Virginia Tech massacre.

VanHuyse said the James Madison College has never held an alternative spring break before this one, though they often take students on non-community service spring break trips. For example, students are often taken to Washington D.C. to network with politicians. 

Mary Herman, a social relations and policy senior and Flint native, said her family will open up their home for James Madison students. Many other students will be staying with Wolbert’s father, who lives in Flint. Wolbert said his father has been a popular host in the past, as he even cooks breakfast and dinner for the students staying in his house. 

Herman has also helped the James Madison group organize meetings with Flint community leaders. VanHuyse said Herman helped coordinate a meeting with Sen. Jim Ananich, as well as state representatives and other local leaders. 

The James Madison College’s trip was planned before the water crisis became national news, and Virginia Tech and U-M have been sending groups to Flint since before the crisis even occurred. Thanks to Wolbert’s organizing, students from New Mexico and Oklahoma have also visited the city and delivered community service. 

“They’ve had people from all over, and I think it’s pretty cool that little old Flint has had wide-reaching connections for a while, before this all transpired,” Herman said. 

VanHuyse hopes to see the Flint program become an annual tradition, and eventually expand it to students outside of the James Madison college. 

For James Madison students, Feb. 29 is the deadline to sign up for the trip. The cost is $125, including breakfast and dinner each day.