L.O.V.E.: Social Justice Immersion Experiences

LOVE Trips constitute a significant part of Manhattan University's social justice immersion program, and they provide students with opportunities to learn about Catholic Social Teaching in the communities that are most impacted by the justice issues.

  • LOVE Program: Social Justice Immersion Experiences

    LOVE Trips (Lasallian Outreach Volunteer Experience) form Manhattan University’s social justice immersion program. Participants learn about social justice and Catholic Social Teaching in preparation for their experience to concretely express the 5 core Lasallian values. On the trips, students are immersed in the local community through experiences with partner organizations. Students are encouraged to bring what they experience back to campus to engage in local service and advocacy.

What is LOVE?

The LOVE program (Lasallian Outreach Volunteer Experience) brings Manhattan University students to a specific place to meet with community & nonprofit organizations, and spend the whole day engaging with justice issues relevant to the residents who live there. Our evenings are spent together in group reflections. Participants engage in simple living and are encouraged to step outside of their comfort zones. 

Experiences

Join us for an upcoming LOVE social justice immersion experiences.

  • Fall 2024: LOVE Washington, DC

    LOVE Trip: Washington, DC

    • Saturday, October 26 to Monday, October 28, 2024
    • The group will travel to the Ignatian Family Teach In Program, which includes awareness of Catholic Social Teaching and hands on experience in social justice immersion in Washington, DC.
    • The cost to participate will be $40 and includes all meals, lodging, travel & activities. If you have any questions or concerns about trip finances please email love@manhattan.edu

    Requirements for student participants in LOVE Washington:

    • Applicant must be a Manhattan University student in good academic and judicial standing with the university and good financial standing with the LOVE program.
    • Commit fully to the program following the first mandatory orientation meeting.
    • Participate actively in group, team & individual fundraising efforts.
    • Plan a post-trip project with your team to help engage the campus community with the city and justice issues you learned about. 
  • Semester Break 2025: LOVE Blackfeet, Montana

    LOVE Blackfeet Montana

    Semester Break: January 4 to January 11, 2025

    CMSA will spend one week at the De LaSalle Blackfeet School in Browning, MT and their Okinisookawa Immersion Program. The OKI-NI-SOO-KA-WA (Come & See): Blackfeet Immersion Program began in 2003 out of an initiative to address the lack of understanding of Native American communities and to spread awareness throughout the country of the De LaSalle Blackfeet School ministry located on the Blackfeet Nation Reservation. In the twenty years of operating the immersion program, De LaSalle Blackfeet has hosted approximately 4,000 students from high schools and colleges around the country.

    • The cost to participate will be $1,000 and includes all meals, lodging, travel & activities. There will be opportunities for both group & individual fundraising efforts to help offset the cost by at least $200. The probable cost will be $800 or less depending upon your level of participation in the fundraising efforts.  If you have any questions or concerns about trip finances please email love@manhattan.edu

    Requirements for student participants in LOVE Blackfeet, Montana:

    • Applicant must be a Manhattan University student in good academic and judicial standing with the university and good financial standing with the LOVE program.
    • Commit fully to the program following the first mandatory orientation meeting.
    • Participate in 1 orientation meeting, 8 pre-trip weekly meetings, the week-long immersion & 3 post-trip weekly meetings. Each meeting is 1.5 hours long.
    • Participate actively in group, team & individual fundraising efforts.
    • Plan a post-trip project with your team to help engage the campus community with the city and justice issues you learned about. 
    • Have a passport or enhanced NYS Driver’s License that is valid for at least 6 months after your last day of travel (to board a domestic flight)
    • Travel insurance is recommended but must be purchased at your own cost.
  • Spring 2025: LOVE Camden

    LOVE Camden

    • Dates: March 7 to March 9, 2025

    About DeSales Service Works: Service immersion trips offer people of all ages the opportunity to get away, reflect, pray and serve people in need. All trip themes are rooted in the core teaching of St. Francis de Sales and involve direct service, facilitated reflection, presentations on Catholic social teaching, and prayer. Volunteers come to do much-needed, practical service in a very poor community. They serve, pray, reflect, and recreate while living in the DSW community. 

    About North Camden: In a real sense, every setting is a place for service, but a place like Camden provides particularly clear service opportunities. The city was listed recently as the third poorest city of its size in the US. Like so many American urban neighborhoods, Camden is characterized by hard edges, constrained horizons, homelessness, drugs, and disorder.  The service immersion trips take place in a very urban place; however, the DSW house is located in a lively, immigrant neighborhood in Camden on a block with eight Church and service related houses.

    Estimated Trip Cost (after group fundraising): $50

    The group will drive to and from Camden.

     

Apply

Application Procedure:

  • LOVE Washington, DC
    • In order for your application to be considered, you must complete the application form below and make your $40 trip deposit here under the "LOVE Trip Participant Payments" section.
    • You will be contacted about your acceptance to the program. The mandatory trip orientation session will tale place in late August/September.
    • If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jubilee Aguilar at cmsa@manhattan.edu or 718-862-7775.
  • LOVE Blackfeet Montana
    • In order for your application to be considered, you must complete the application form below and make your $100 trip deposit here under the "LOVE Trip Participant Payments" section.
    • You will be contacted about your acceptance to the program. The mandatory trip orientation session will tale place in October.
    • If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jubilee Aguilar at cmsa@manhattan.edu or 718-862-7775.
  • LOVE Camden
    • In order for your application to be considered, you must complete the application form below and make your $50 trip deposit here under the "LOVE Trip Participant Payments" section.
    • You will be contacted about your acceptance to the program. The mandatory trip orientation session will tale place in January.
    • If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Br. Daniel at cmsa@manhattan.edu or 718-862-7142.

Apply Now

Justice is what love looks like in public!

Cornel West