The Peace Corps celebrates its 45th anniversary this week and UW-Madison has more alumni serving in the Corps than any university for the 20th consecutive year, due to a heightened spirit of service on campus that promotes the program, according to its veterans and facilitators.
Since its 1961 establishment, 2,714 university alumni have served as Peace Corps volunteers, second only to the University of California''''??-Berkeley with 3,236.
Gregory Pepping, UW-Madison Peace Corps campus representative and former volunteer in Uganda, attributes UW-Madison's achievement to the Wisconsin Idea'the notion that education should serve the community'as well as the city's activist legacy from the '60s.
'Madison's just a very progressive town, as is the school,' he said.
Wisconsin First Lady Jessica Doyle, a UW-Madison alumna who joined the Peace Corps with Gov. Jim Doyle, credits both President Kennedy and UW-Madison with influencing their decision to volunteer in Tunisia from 1967-'69.
The Doyles already had a 'general notion' to join the Peace Corps by the time they transferred to UW-Madison for their senior year. However, she said they 'kind of caught the spirit of service on the [UW-Madison] campus and that made us really sure that was the right decision.'
According to Jessica Doyle, 'There was definitely a feeling on campus that UW-Madison was part of a greater world and that it was really up to UW-Madison graduates to make a connection with that greater world out there.'
For Andrew Walker, a 2005 UW-Madison graduate who will teach for the Peace Corps in Albania, the decision to volunteer was mainly personal. But he said the atmosphere of Madison made his choice easier because he was not pressured to pursue a traditional career immediately after graduation.
According to Gary Lore, public affairs specialist for the Peace Corps in Minneapolis, having a 'critical mass' of returned volunteers also helps recruitment. UW-Madison has many returned Peace Corps volunteers on staff, including several teaching in the Life Sciences Department, Lore said.
'They are constantly mentioning the Peace Corps, promoting the Peace Corps, maybe even almost subliminally,' Lore said. 'I'm sure that plays a big role.'
Pepping said the university is also committed to recruiting volunteers through his Peace Corps office, which is jointly funded by the Corps and UW-Madison. Most schools do not have a Peace Corps representative, he said. Pepping gives monthly presentations and holds office hours to 'get the message out' about the Peace Corps.
UW-Madison's branch is unique because it supplies 'high quality' volunteers, Lore said. If the Peace Corps knew exactly why so many volunteers came from UW-Madison, 'we would package it and take it to about 3,800 universities.'
