Peace Corps to hold recruiting events March 4

To celebrate more than 50 years of service abroad, the Peace Corps will host a “Peace Corps Around the World Festival” event at Western Washington University at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, in the Miller Hall Collaborative Space. The event will be followed by a Peace Corps panel discussion at 5:30 p.m. in Miller Hall Room 131.

The Peace Corps annually recognizes Peace Corps Week to commemorate the signing of President John F. Kennedy’s executive order establishing the federal agency on March 1, 1961.

Western Washington University has a strong legacy with the Peace Corps. Since 1961, 934 alumni have served with the agency, with 47 alumni currently serving overseas. The school has ranked No. 1 among medium-sized universities for the past three years.

On Wednesday, returned Peace Corps volunteers will share their stories of service while tabling for their host countries. The panel discussion will include volunteers recognizing their host country heroes and how those connections have shaped their lives after service. The speakers include Dick Etter (India), Jack Hardy (Palau, Micronesia), Lynn Keating (Gambia), Kathryn Patrick (Thailand), and Sylvia Graham (Madagascar). Patrick also serves as admissions adviser for Huxley College of the Environment at Western, and Graham is a masters graduate from Huxley.

Peace Corps campus representative Jill MacIntyre Witt, who served in Morocco, will be at the events to share information about the opportunities available with the Peace Corps, benefits of serving with the agency and tips to guide potential volunteers through the application process.

For more information, visit the Peace Corps at Western Facebook page.

President Kennedy established the Peace Corps to promote world peace and friendship through three goals: helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women; helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served; and helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. Nearly 220,000 Americans of all ages have served via the Peace Corps in 140 countries worldwide.