First Place for Peace Corps
As a Peace Corps volunteer, Julie Fast (IntPhys’08), far left, lives in a town of 2,000 inhabitants in Peru offering everything from self-esteem classes to recycling programs.
For the first time in its history, CU-Boulder is ranked No. 1 in the nation for graduates serving as Peace Corps volunteers with 117 alumni who received undergraduate degrees currently serving around the world.
The university was ranked No. 2 last year and in 2009, and is ranked the No. 5 all-time school for volunteers with 2,269 alumni who have served in the Peace Corps since it was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.
“I am delighted that our emphasis on civic engagement as part of the learning experience at CU-Boulder has resulted in service-oriented graduates contributing to their global community,” says
Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano.
The University of Florida ranked No. 2 for large schools this year with 97 undergraduate alumni serving. Also placing in the top five were the University of Michigan, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Washington.
Each year, more than 13,000 CU-Boulder students participate in some form of community service, according to Peter Simons, director of The Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement.
Photo by Julie Fast