Carol Bellamy told graduates during Saturday's commencement to be persistent for change locally and globally and not to be discouraged when others are moving too slow



Carol Bellamy told graduates during Saturday's commencement to be persistent for change locally and globally and not to be discouraged when others are moving too slow

SIT sends grads into world

By MIKE KALIL
Reformer Staff

[Excerpt]

BRATTLEBORO -- As the School for International Training's new graduates prepared to leave for all corners of the world over the weekend, its new president was still settling in.

Carol Bellamy, the former executive director of UNICEF and World Learning's new president and chief executive officer, told graduates during Saturday's commencement to be persistent for change locally and globally and not to be discouraged when others are moving too slow.

Many in the graduating class of 218, however, have already begun to do just that. And about 10 percent of the outgoing class volunteered for the Peace Corps, of which Bellamy was the first female director before joining UNICEF.

"But you are not a group of people that needs to be pushed out the door and into the world," Bellamy said in her prepared commencement address. "You've already been in the world. You came to SIT to learn how to be in it better."

The late-morning graduation marked the end of SIT's 40th academic year. It also represented a shift in the institution's leadership, as Bellamy is taking the helm after 10 years as head of UNICEF, the maximum time allowed by the organization.

She succeeds James A. Cramer, who stepped down from World Learning's leadership post in December 2004 after six years. Bellamy has spent most of her life in the New York City area, where she also worked as a politician and in corporate law and finance.

"I'm new in these here hills -- you've all been here a lot longer than I have -- but I've got to say that my travels with UNICEF never took me to any place as pastoral as this," she said. "A view like this shouldn't be taken for granted by any of us. I knew leaving UNICEF would be life-altering, but I didn't think I'd get to heaven so soon."

When this story was posted in June 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:



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June 6: PC suspends Uzbekistan program Peace Corps has announced that it is suspending the Uzbekistan program after the visas of 52 Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were not renewed. The suspension comes after a State Department warning that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in Uzbekistan and after the killings in Andizhan earlier in May. Background: PCOL published a report on April 23 that Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were having visa difficulties and reported on safety and visa issues in Uzbekistan as they developed.

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June 5, 2005: Special Events Vote in the NPCA Election for new board before June 15 "American Taboo" author Phil Weiss in Maryland on June 18 "Rainforests and Refugees" showing in Portland, Maine until June 25 "Iowa in Ghana" on exhibit in Waterloo through June 30 RPCV's "Taking the Early Bus" at Cal State until Aug 15 RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

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May 28, 2005: This Week's Top Stories The Coyne Column: Love and War in Afghanistan 28 May Sam Farr supports Coffee Growers in Colombia 28 May Elaine Chao wins Woman of Valor award 27 May Nebraska has strong ties with Afghanistan 27 May Arthur Orr to seek Alabama State Senate seat 26 May Murder of John Auffrey remembered in Liberia 26 May Bill Moyers says journalists should be filters for readers 26 May Linda Seyler spent two years in Thailand digging latrines 25 May Chris Shays blasts Bush on stem cell research 25 May George Wolfe to head Loudoun Academy of Science 25 May David Rudenstine heads Cardozo School of Law 24 May Mark Schneider says declaration is "pretty thin gruel" 24 May Robert Blackwill supports seat for India on Security Council 24 May Chris Matthews weighs Thomas Jefferson nomination 24 May Jim Knopf is expert on xeriscape gardening 23 May Mae Jemison receives honorary degree at Wilson 23 May Kenneth Proudfoot says dreams come true 22 May

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Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.

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