2010.10.15: Historical Marker Unveiled at University of Michigan to Celebrate 50 years of the Peace Corps

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Library: Peace Corps: 50th Anniversary: 2010.10.16: University of Michigan commemorates fiftieth anniversary of Peace Corps : 2010.10.15: Historical Marker Unveiled at University of Michigan to Celebrate 50 years of the Peace Corps

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Historical Marker Unveiled at University of Michigan to Celebrate 50 years of the Peace Corps

Historical Marker Unveiled at University of Michigan to Celebrate 50 years of the Peace Corps

It was on those same steps 50 years ago Thursday that then-Sen. John F. Kennedy encouraged students to serve in developing countries. He planted the seeds, and the Peace Corps has grown significantly. "The movement that began here in Ann Arbor went on to change the way America sees the world -- and the way the world sees this country," said Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams, one of several people who spoke. A historical marker recognizing the birth of the Peace Corps was unveiled Thursday at the corner of State and South University.

Historical Marker Unveiled at University of Michigan to Celebrate 50 years of the Peace Corps

50 years of the Peace Corps

U-M celebrates a call to service

BY CASSANDRA SPRATLING
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Caption: Professor Rowell Huesmann, left, and Leah Gunn, both of Ann Arbor, view a historical marker observing the birthplace of the Peace Corps following a ceremony Thursday.

Hundreds of former Peace Corps volunteers joined University of Michigan students, professors, government leaders and others on the steps of the Michigan Union on Thursday to celebrate a call to service that began decades ago.

It was on those same steps 50 years ago Thursday that then-Sen. John F. Kennedy encouraged students to serve in developing countries. He planted the seeds, and the Peace Corps has grown significantly.

"The movement that began here in Ann Arbor went on to change the way America sees the world -- and the way the world sees this country," said Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams, one of several people who spoke.

Peace Corps Online

A historical marker recognizing the birth of the Peace Corps was unveiled Thursday at the corner of State and South University.

Williams and U-M President Mary Sue Coleman announced a partnership that will allow selected students to serve in the Peace Corps and earn graduate degrees from the School of Education, the School of Natural Resources and Environment or the School of Social Work.

"We are pleased to partner with the Peace Corps and add to our outstanding graduate programs new and exciting opportunities for our students to combine excellent academic preparation with international service," Coleman said.

Many former Peace Corps volunteers have been at the university all week attending anniversary activities.

Among those present was a student leader who helped organize the Peace Corps: Alan Guskin, 73, president emeritus of Antioch University. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand from 1961-64. "I'm just overwhelmed," Guskin said. "It has been a fantastic few days to relive this moment in my life."

Tom Hayden, 70, a writer and lecturer in Los Angeles, was editor of the Michigan Daily when the Peace Corps began.

"I wouldn't have missed this; you don't get many opportunities to relive important moments in your own life," Hayden said Wednesday.

"The idea of international service has been universalized and accepted," Hayden said. "If you go on any campus, you find students signing up for some form of public service."

Many of the former volunteers said serving in the Peace Corps made them better people.

Don Bendure, 65, a native Detroiter who lives in Springfield, Ill., taught math and science to students in Sierra Leone from 1968-70.

"When you live in a poor country, you learn to appreciate life," he said. "So many people there had so little, yet they appreciated living. Some of us, all we do is complain and we have a lot. You learn that if you have friends and family, you have a lot."




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