Pomona College alumni recalled their days in the Peace Corps and the impact it had on them



Pomona College alumni recalled their days in the Peace Corps and the impact it had on them

Pomona teaches students how to explore the possibilities. The Peace Corps teaches them how to serve. Pairing them taught a few Pomona alumnu how to be better global citizens...

Since the Peace Corps was founded in 1961, generations of Pomona College graduates have lent their hands, minds and hearts to the institution with a mission to "promote world peace and friendship."

In March, the Peace Corps acknowledged every Peace Corps volunteer from Pomona College—236 of them and counting—by presenting the school with a peace pole, an 8-foot tall, white monument with the words "Let Peace Prevail on Earth" printed in a different language on each of the pole’s four sides.

"Pomona College has made a tremendous contribution to our agency's global legacy of public service," said Michaela Brehm, Peace Corps spokeswoman. "The college’s students apply the skills and knowledge they acquired during their time at Pomona to help improve the lives of many people in need. The important role that these students play in promoting hope, opportunity and freedom cannot be underestimated."

Throughout the years, Pomona College alumni who volunteered in the Peace Corps have been united in their desire to make a difference in the world. Some see their missions as a success, others wonder if their contributions mattered. But for all of them, the Peace Corps made an indelible difference in their lives and forever changed the way they viewed the world. Recently, a handful of Pomona College alumni recalled their days in the Peace Corps and the impact it had on them.

—Deborah Haar Clark

When this story was posted in October 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Kerry reaches out to Returned Volunteers The Kerry campaign wants the RPCV vote. Read our interview with Dave Magnani, Massachusetts State Senator and Founder of "RPCVs for Kerry," and his answers to our questions about Kerry's plan to triple the size of the Peace Corps, should the next PC Director be an RPCV, and Safety and Security issues. Then read the "RPCVs for Kerry" statement of support and statements by Dr. Robert Pastor, Ambassador Parker Borg, and Paul Oostburg Sanz made at the "RPCVs for Kerry" Press Conference. RPCV Carl Pope says the key to winning this election is not swaying undecided voters, but persuading those already willing to vote for your candidate to actually go to the polls. Take our poll and tell us what you are doing to support your candidate. Finally read our wrap-up of the eight RPCVs in Senate and House races around the country and where the candidates are in their races.

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Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview PCOL sits down for an extended interview with Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez. Read the entire interview from start to finish and we promise you will learn something about the Peace Corps you didn't know before. Plus the debate continues over Safety and Security.

Schwarzenegger praises PC at Convention Governor Schwarzenegger praised the Peace Corps at the Republican National Convention: "We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village children." Schwarzenegger has previously acknowledged his debt to his father-in-law, Peace Corps Founding Director Sargent Shriver, for teaching him "the joy of public service" and Arnold is encouraging volunteerism by creating California Service Corps and tapping his wife, Maria Shriver, to lead it. Leave your comments and who can come up with the best Current Events Funny?

Peace Corps: One of the Best Faces of America Teresa Heinz Kerry celebrates the Peace Corps Volunteer as one of the best faces America has ever projected in a speech to the Democratic Convention. The National Review disagreed and said that Heinz's celebration of the PCV was "truly offensive." What's your opinion and can you come up with a Political Funny?

Read the stories and leave your comments.