More alumni volunteer

Dartmouth ranks 3rd in Peace Corps recruits among small colleges

Published January 26, 2004; Category: ALUMNI

The alumni of Dartmouth have chosen to join the Peace Corps at a significantly higher rate than last year, earning a No. 3 spot in the Peace Corps' annual listing of top-producing small colleges.

Thirty-one of the Peace Corps' 2003 volunteers were educated at Dartmouth, up from 18 in 2002 (when Dartmouth was listed No. 11) and 19 in 2001 (listed No. 5). That reflects a jump of 58 percent in one year.

"The important role that these alumni continue to play in promoting hope, opportunity and freedom cannot be underestimated," said Director Gaddi H. Vasquez in a Peace Corps press release. "We at Peace Corps are pleased and excited that an increasing number of college alumni are not only considering Peace Corps, but are answering the call to service that is so necessary and imperative in our global community."

Nationally, more college graduates, not necessarily fresh out of school, are volunteering. The Peace Corps' size, 7,533 volunteers, is its largest since 1974. It reports that, among the 76 top-producing schools on its list, 15 percent more graduates joined the corps last year than the year before. The list includes small schools with less than 5,000 undergraduates, medium-sized schools with between 5,000 and 15,000 undergraduates, and large schools with more than 15,000 undergraduates. The small schools who topped the list are the University of Chicago (4,100 undergraduates) with 34 volunteers, the University of Puget Sound (2,500 undergraduates) with 32 volunteers and Dartmouth (4,300 undergraduates) with 31 volunteers.

The average age of American volunteers is 28. That pool includes 59 percent female and 41 percent male volunteers, 90 percent single and 10 percent married, 15 percent ethnic minorities, and 6 percent over age 50, according to Peace Corps figures. Each term lasts two years.

The Peace Corps was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, and later that year it was approved by Congress as a permanent agency of the Department of State. In 1981 it was made an independent agency.

Volunteers serve in 71 countries in areas like education, health and HIV/AIDS, the environment and business development.

By AMANDA WEATHERMAN

Dartmouth's Peace Corps Volunteers