Peace Corps steps up recruitment campaign at state colleges



For those old enough to remember the Camelot days of the early 1960s, the Peace Corps may conjure images of idealistic young college grads fanning across the globe, helping impoverished villagers obtain pure water or administering vaccinations to squealing children. For many who have come of age since then, mention of the Peace Corps may conjure nothing at all. Participation today is a long way from the organization's 1966 heyday, when it sent out 15,556 volunteers.

Peace Corps steps up recruitment campaign at state colleges

Peace Corps steps up recruitment campaign at state colleges
Monday, November 06, 2006
NANCY WILSTACH
News staff writer

For those old enough to remember the Camelot days of the early 1960s, the Peace Corps may conjure images of idealistic young college grads fanning across the globe, helping impoverished villagers obtain pure water or administering vaccinations to squealing children.

For many who have come of age since then, mention of the Peace Corps may conjure nothing at all. Participation today is a long way from the organization's 1966 heyday, when it sent out 15,556 volunteers.

But the group has begun efforts to generate more interest and awareness among college students, a push that has brought Peace Corps representatives to several Birmingham-area colleges recently, including the University of Montevallo last week.

There are signs the efforts may be succeeding. Last year's total of 7,810 volunteers was the highest in more than 30 years.

The organization is working to boost interest on campuses in Alabama, which is in the lowest tier of states for volunteers per capita.

"Last year we had 100 applications from Alabama," said David D'Agostino Leavitt, public affairs specialist in the Peace Corps' Atlanta Regional Recruitment Office. "Our goal for 2007 is to have 160."

Of those who apply, only 25 to 35 percent are accepted for service in the program, Leavitt said. The standards are high, he said, because the volunteers carry the prestige of the United States to the far corners of the Earth.

Leavitt and former Peace Corps volunteer Dan Frederick were in Montevallo last week to spread the word that the Corps is still alive, well and in need of energetic, dedicated volunteers. They met with the deans of the university's four colleges, two vice presidents and the director of counseling, and said they were enthusiastic about their reception.

Young people coming out of a small liberal arts school in a mostly rural state have a lot to offer the Peace Corps, and the Peace Corps can do a lot for them, Leavitt said.

"You live with the people in the country where you are assigned," he said. "This breaks down preconceptions. You will find that a typical Peace Corps volunteer is flexible, tolerant and loves people."

Solving problems:

"The experience develops problem-solving ability," Frederick said. "It pumps up your resume."

A recently returned Peace Corps volunteer, Jared Schnader, 25, of Pelham, graduated from the University of Alabama in financial investments. He took his knowledge to Ukraine, learned to speak Russian and did everything from teaching university-level classes to organizing a drive to provide orphans with New Year presents.

"There is that altruistic part of me that wanted more from my life, to do more with my life," Schnader said.

"I learned a lot more about America being in Ukraine," he said. "You get asked a lot of random questions and need to be able to answer. It helps us see how the rest of the world sees us."

The actual work helps the host country, Leavitt said, but the most important aspect of a Peace Corps volunteer's service may be those conversations and the socializing.

"You are serving America," Leavitt said. "The Peace Corps is part of the federal government, just like the military. You are going out on a mission of peace and good will. You may be the only American some people will ever meet."

Because this simple mission was spelled out so clearly when the agency was founded March 1, 1961, Leavitt said, "the Peace Corps is one of the jewels. It has survived 45 years, and that original mission has not been compromised."

E-mail: nwilstach@bhamnews.com

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Headlines: November, 2006; Recruitment; Alabama

When this story was posted in December 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

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