Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement

CU rises to No. 2 on Peace Corps list

More than 100 Buffs currently serving worldwide

January 12, 2009

The University of Colorado this week leap-frogged over the University of Wisconsin-Madison to claim the No. 2 spot on the Peace Corps' annual ranking of alumni volunteers.

Only the University of Washington provided more volunteers -- in the large-school category, featuring institutions with more than 15,000 undergraduates -- than CU's Boulder campus, according to figures released Monday by the Peace Corps.

"I think it shows their hard work and dedication to promoting opportunities for their students to gain international service experience," Peace Corps spokeswoman Shannon Borders said of CU.

In 2008, there were 102 Buffs serving in the Peace Corps, up from 94 in 2007. The Badgers, which boasted 99 alumni volunteers in 2007, fell to sixth place last year with 81. Washington kept its top spot, despite seeing a reduction in its volunteers, from 113 to 104.

"This is a great honor for the University of Colorado at Boulder," CU chancellor G.P. "Bud" Peterson said in a statement. "It is also a tribute to the thousands of our students and alumni who, over two generations, have translated their idealism and desire to serve into the betterment of communities around the world."

Besides jumping one spot on the year-by-year rankings, CU also moved up from sixth to fifth on the Peace Corps' all-time volunteers list, with 2,157 Buffs having served since the Peace Corps' founding in 1961. The University of California-Berkeley has provided the most Peace Corps volunteers, with 3,371 alumni having served.

CU graduate student Kathleen Wiley served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine from 2004 to 2006, and can testify to the quality of the experience.

"It was a huge challenge," Wiley said, "It was 10 times more difficult and 10 times more challenging than anything I had done at college before."

Wiley -- who majored in English as an undergraduate in Tennessee -- is a master's candidate in geography with a focus on political geography, a decision inspired by her time in the Peace Corps, particularly living in Ukraine during the Orange Revolution, a series of political demonstrations during that period.

"Getting to see that and watch that unfold really inspired me to come back and work more and to understand it more," Wiley said.

Currently, 7,876 volunteers are serving in the Peace Corps in 76 different countries. Historically, more than 195,000 volunteers have served in the Peace Corps in 139 countries.

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