News > February 7, 2008

By Katie Phillips | Contributing writer

The university is now ranked 16th in a top 25 list of small colleges and universities, according to the Peace Corps List of Top Colleges of 2008. Released Jan.14, the list was compiled for colleges and universities with the most alumni volunteers.

Currently the university has 17 graduates serving in the program

Since the Peace Corps was founded in March of 1961, 182 graduates have served.

The top list of colleges and universities is divided into three categories: large colleges that include more than 15,000 students, medium colleges that include 5,001 to 15,000 students and small colleges that include less than 5,000 students.

Tied with the university at 16th in the category of small colleges and universities are Colgate University, Macalester College, Middlebury College and Tufts University. The University of Chicago came in first in the category with 34 alumni volunteers.

The university has dropped nine spots from last year’s rank of seven, when the university had 21 graduates serving in the Peace Corps.

The idea of the Peace Corps began when President John F. Kennedy, then senator, was running for presidential office in November of 1960.

In an impromptu campaign speech Kennedy challenged a crowd of 10,000 students at the University of Michigan by saying, “How many of you are willing to give two years of your lives to the cause of peace by living and working in developing world?”

From there a governmental agency was formed to lead foreign countries towards world peace and friendship.

Since 1960 there have been over 190,000 total volunteers, serving in over 139 countries.

The program currently includes 8,039 volunteers in 74 countries, ranging from St. Lucia to Afghanistan to South Korea.

Peace Corps volunteers strive to help hundreds of thousands of individuals who want to build a better life for themselves, their children, and their communities.

Recently the Peace Corps has begun to broaden efforts to teach information technology, business development, and awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS throughout the world.

President Kennedy included in his inaugural address of 1961 something that soon became the core of the Peace Corps philosophy: “To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves...”

There are three established goals of the Peace Corps, set by President Kennedy and initial leaders. The first is helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women, while the second is helping to promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.

The final of goal of the Peace Corps is helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

To learn more about the list of top colleges and universities or the Peace Corps in general, students can visit the Peace Corps’ website at www.peacecorps.gov.

Students may also call the Peace Corps at 1-800-424-8580.