“As in my youth,” he said, “our country is again witnessing a growing service movement championed by a charismatic, energetic and inspirational president.” He referred to President John F. Kennedy, who founded the Peace Corps in 1961. In an article published in World View Magazine, then-Sen. Obama also mentioned a more global approach to service, expanding the Peace Corps to engage the youth of other nations “so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity.” Some may argue that politicians will say anything to gain public confidence, but Quigley believes Obama is sincere in his message. “For this president,” Quigley said, “service is a core value, not a rhetorical statement.” Quigley emphasized that the Peace Corps, which has been referred to as “the best face of America overseas,” needs both expansion and renovation. The world has changed over the past 50 years, and the Peace Corps has essentially remained the same. New goals Quigley proposes for the Peace Corps to help more urban areas; branching out to “rising country powers” such as Brazil, India and Nigeria; forming alliances with other organizations that send volunteers overseas; and “being much more nimble in [the U.S’s] use sof technology.” Having the support of the nation’s president, Quigley said, will truly make a difference and help to transform these ideas into reality.
National Peace Corps president Kevin Quigley comes to speak at Etown
National Peace Corps president comes to speak at Etown
Patricia A. Cangelosi
Staff Writer
Thursday February 12 2009
National Peace Corps Association President and CEO Kevin F. F. Quigley spoke last week at Elizabethtown College’s Leffler Chapel. Quigley also visited many classrooms Monday and Tuesday, where he hosted interactive discussions about the significance of the Peace Corps Etown students and for the world. Tuesday evening, he spoke to an audience of 35-40 people, mostly students, about the process of obtaining a Peace Corps position and how such a position might affect one’s future career.
Wednesday’s speech focused on President Barack Obama’s Public Service Agenda and its impact on the Peace Corps Obama pledged from the time he was a candidate to double the Peace Corps by its 50th Anniversary in 2011. In fact, as Quigley pointed out, this was one of the only issues that Sen. Obama and Sen. John McCain agreed on during their campaigns. Presently, 7,800 Peace Corps volunteers serve in 74 countries, and Quigley expressed confidence that these numbers will increase drastically over the next couple of years.
“As in my youth,” he said, “our country is again witnessing a growing service movement championed by a charismatic, energetic and inspirational president.” He referred to President John F. Kennedy, who founded the Peace Corps in 1961. In an article published in World View Magazine, then-Sen. Obama also mentioned a more global approach to service, expanding the Peace Corps to engage the youth of other nations “so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity.”
Some may argue that politicians will say anything to gain public confidence, but Quigley believes Obama is sincere in his message. “For this president,” Quigley said, “service is a core value, not a rhetorical statement.”
Quigley emphasized that the Peace Corps, which has been referred to as “the best face of America overseas,” needs both expansion and renovation. The world has changed over the past 50 years, and the Peace Corps has essentially remained the same. New goals Quigley proposes for the Peace Corps to help more urban areas; branching out to “rising country powers” such as Brazil, India and Nigeria; forming alliances with other organizations that send volunteers overseas; and “being much more nimble in [the U.S’s] use sof technology.” Having the support of the nation’s president, Quigley said, will truly make a difference and help to transform these ideas into reality.
“Educate for Service,” Etown’s motto, rings true for several members of the College community who have served or plan to serve in the Peace Corps. Provost Dr. Susan Traverso lived in Morocco from 1983 to 1985, teaching English to high school students. She first became inspired to serve others because of her own fortunate circumstances.
“I felt that when you have privileges, you have obligations as well,” she said. She tries to encourage students to join the Peace Corps, citing financial incentives such as loan deferment and personal gains, such as better career opportunities. Traverso acknowledges that it is difficult for young people to commit to a cause so far from home for two or more years. However, she said, “Sometimes the most challenging choices we make are the most rewarding ones.”
Senior Jess Pandolfino, who plans to join the Peace Corps after graduation, says she wants “to get a better sense of [herself].” She would like to use the skills she is learning in college with her sociology/anthropology major to assess the needs of various communities overseas. Although she is flexible about where the Peace Corps places her, Pandolfino admits that she is “hoping for somewhere warm.”
College officials, including Dean of Faculty Christina Bucher, found Quigley through the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow Program, an organization sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC). The program includes 125 fellows, who are people of prominence in their fields who are not involved in academia, such as not-for-profit association professionals, politicians or journalists.
As CIC Program Manager Michelle Friedman explains, colleges wanting to host a fellow must apply and can specify certain criteria (i.e. an expert on African history). CIC and the Visiting Fellow Program then try to match a fellow with the college as accurately as possible. The goal is to generate dialogues between those involved in academics and those in outside fields, exposing students and faculty to ideas and perspectives they may not be getting in the classroom.
For Quigley, the chance to interact with students and staff at liberal arts schools is one he values. As a literature major with minors in history and religion, he originally intended to teach at a college similar to Etown. Since his journey has led him elsewhere, he compares his career path to Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.” Quigley enjoys the opportunity to meet and connect with college students. “Young people ask me what you can do with a liberal arts education,” Quigley said, “and I answer, ‘Anything and everything.’”
