GW ranked first among medium-sized schools for producing Peace Corps volunteers, a title it has now held for four consecutive years.
Seventy-eight undergraduate alumni serve in the Peace Corps, an increase from 72 last year.
The second-place honoree in GW’s bracket, Western Washington University, has 73 alumni serving. American and Cornell Universities were also commended among colleges with undergraduate populations between 5,001 and 15,000 students.
The top-ranked schools in the large and small categories were the University of Colorado Boulder and University of Mary Washington, respectively.
Peace Corps public affairs specialist Stephen Chapman cited an “emphasis on service” and “curiosity about life outside the United States” as the qualities that most often inspire students to volunteer.
“GW students embody both of those traits,” Chapman said.
Julie Hyman, who graduated in 2010 with a degree in journalism and mass communication, is volunteering with the Peace Corps to create a library in northern Namibia. She lives without electricity on a homestead with a host family, cattle, goats, donkeys and chickens.
“Going to school in D.C. definitely piqued my interest in all things international and allowed me certain internship and job opportunities that fed this interest,” Hyman said.
Hyman added that she was inspired to serve by First Lady Michelle Obama’s University-wide 100,000 hour service challenge, issued before she spoke at commencement last May.
“Students come to GW with a disposition to serve. Many students choose GW because they are interested in making the world a better place through service, policy or community partnerships,” Amy Cohen, executive director of GW’s Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, said.
Since its founding in 1961, a total of 1,094 alumni have served in the Peace Corps. The program requires a 27-month commitment in any of 76 current host countries.
GW’s long-standing relationship with the organization was celebrated alongside the initiative’s 50th anniversary at an on-campus reception last fall, where Peace Corps director Aaron S. Williams thanked the University for its leadership in producing volunteers.
Go Olivia!
I was delighted to read this article and see that GW tops the list of mid-sized schools whose graduates become Peace Corps Volunteers. Of the 1094 alumni who have had this experience, I was one of the first half-dozen or so to join what was then a brand-new government agency.
Here’s how GW prepared me for one of the best experiences of my life:
When I graduated from GW in 1965 with a degree in French, my father cheerfully remarked that that and a quarter would get me on the DC bus (which it would have at the time.) However, I had already decided, in my junior year and for many of the reasons mentioned in this article, that I was going to join the Peace Corps. This decision was cemented during the summer of 1964. I didn’t have enough money for a semester or summer abroad, so I did the next best thing: I got a job in at Chez François, the number one French restaurant in the city. My French improved quickly and dramatically, and I was soon using it with all of the French staff and customers. (Note: I was lucky enough to have been born with a very good ear, so I can pronounce almost anything.)
Chez François – now L’Auberge Chez François in Great Falls — was on the short stretch of Connecticut between Lafayette and Farragut Squares, a block from the White House and right around the corner from the Peace Corps headquarters at 17th and I, which made it a popular place for White House staffers and the press corps. It also drew a large number of diplomats and other international types.
I was working late one evening when Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver came in, and the hostess seated him at my table. Sarge noticed me speaking French with the staff and English with other customers; when I went over to see if he needed more coffee, he said to me, “You’re not French, are you?”
“No, I’m American.”
“Where did you learn to speak French?
“George Washington University. I’m a French major.” Sarge’s eyes lit up. Aha! A college student! And a French-speaker!
“What year are you?” he asked.
“I’ll be a senior,” I said. “I’ll graduate next June.” . . .and here comes the pitch! I said to myself. I was right.
“Well!” said Sarge. “What are you going to do after you graduate? – join the Peace Corps?”
“Of course!” I answered. Sarge’s mouth fell open and for a brief and rare moment he was speechless. He was so used to trying to explain to people what the then-3-year-old agency was and to recruit Volunteers that he wasn’t prepared for an answer like mine.
We chatted a bit more and then had to get back to our respective jobs (and he left a nice tip!) A year later I was in a Peace Corps training program to become an ESL teacher in Tunisia, birthplace of the Arab Spring and a country that I dearly love.
My experiences at GW were excellent preparation for becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer. I had a good education in French and, to borrow from Julie Hyman, my years in DC “definitely piqued my interest in all things international.” My membership in Chi Omega taught me a lot about working with people, including some with whom I did not agree, and I was also influenced by two of my ChiO sisters, Natalia Forsyth (’63, not ’09) and Maryland Hartge (’64), who had joined Peace Corps before me.
Becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer was one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made because that experience became the foundation for much of what I’ve done in my life – an MA in linguistics with an emphasis in ESL and Arabic, a JD that led to a career primarily in the international arena and now teaching international law students, a sense of the vital importance of community involvement, a husband who was a Peace Corps architect and worked in international development for most of his career, children who grew up with a keen awareness of the oneness of the world – and on and on. It helped make me who I am, and I have reaped much more than I ever sewed.
An MA in linguistics and sewed? Ok, a typo. It’s sowed.
It is commendable that GW engenders this spirit of volunteerism, or perhaps accepts students who have had it inculcated before entering GW.
I can attest to this – currently sitting at an internet cafe in Panama as a Peace Corps Volunteer! So far (it´s only been five months), craziest experience of my life. Love it.
Julie Hyman is one of my favorite people of all time and one of my heroes. Everywhere she goes she makes the world a better place for just having been there, and if we could have more people like her around we could solve a lot of the world’s problems.