Dartmouth alumni ranked third in participation in the Peace Corps among graduates of small colleges in the last year, an organizational report announced Tuesday.
Thirty-one graduates of the College volunteered to serve two year terms in the Peace Corps, the federal government agency "devoted to world peace and friendship." This past year's figure indicated a sharp rise in involvement from Dartmouth alums -- only 18 College graduates volunteered in 2001 and 19 volunteered in 2000.
Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez praised alumni volunteers in a release that accompanied the report Tuesday.
"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," Vasquez said.
Dartmouth alumni's increased participation in the Peace Corps mirrors a nationwide surge in the popularity of the Corps, likely due in part to the country's recent economic slump. The organization currently numbers more 7,500 volunteers, the largest it has been since 1974.
The Peace Corps has traditionally run a heavily-trafficked booth at the College's annual fall job fair. Peace Corps recruiter Susanne Delaney said the group's table is typically "bombarded" by interested undergraduates. At last year's fair, Delaney reported that the organization had to bring an extra representative to handle the multitude of inquiries from Dartmouth students.
Dartmouth graduates who have gone into the Corps speak highly of their experiences.
In an article in The Dartmouth in 1999, Henry Homeyer '68 described his post in the Peace Corps as "the best job I ever had."
The Peace Corps has put over 170,000 volunteers to work on issues as varied as AIDS education, information technology and environmental preservation, according to the organization website.
The group grew out of a speech by then-Sen. John F. Kennedy at the University of Michigan in 1960.
