For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Jane Turnis
(719) 389-6138
JTurnis@ColoradoCollege.edu
Leslie Weddell
(719) 389-6038
Leslie.Weddell@ColoradoCollege.edu
CC JUMPS FIVE SPOTS TO BECOME 11th TOP PRODUCER
OF PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS
CC students “well-suited for Peace Corps,” recruiter says
COLORADO SPRINGS , Colo. – Jan. 31, 2006 – Colorado College moved up five spots and is now ranked 11th among small schools and universities with alumni serving as Peace Corps volunteers.The college has 20 alumni currently serving. Since the Peace Corps' inception, 295 alumni of Colorado College have joined its ranks. The highest Colorado College has ranked on the list is 8 th in 2003.
Judy Offerdahl, interim director of Colorado College’s career center, says there has been high interest in the Peace Corps among CC students during the five years she has been at the college. “It’s a perfect fit for CC. So many of our students are interested in going abroad, in making a difference, and in giving back,” she said.
CC President Richard F. Celeste, who joined the college in 2002, served as director of the U.S. Peace Corps from 1979 until 1981.
"More and more students who realize that I headed the Peace Corps at one time are approaching me to discuss it," Celeste said. "It doesn’t surprise me, because these students are very interested in being engaged globally. CC students look for ways to put their skills and insights to work especially where they can help make a real difference. They have learned to live in challenging circumstances in other cultures, which makes them ideal Peace Corps Volunteers.”
The Peace Corps ranks the top 25 colleges and universities producing volunteers according to the size of the student body. Small schools are those with fewer than 5,000 undergraduates: Colorado College has 1,960 undergraduate students. Medium-size schools are those with between 5,001 and 15,000 undergraduates, and large schools are those with more than 15,000 undergraduates.
Denver-based Mark Schlink, regional representative for the Peace Corps, says CC students are well-suited for the Peace Corps. “They have a high level of commitment to community service,” he said. Approximately 85 percent of CC students participate in some form of community service during their years on campus – compared to a national average of about 36 percent.
“Colorado College students come from all over the place, and so many of them do a significant amount of community service in Colorado Springs. … I think that’s very telling,” he said. “CC students are involved in local community service, and the Peace Corps is community service overseas.”
Schlink also said Colorado College’s career services office does much to facilitate his interactions with students and helps interested students get in touch with him. “I don’t see the level of commitment at very many schools that there is at CC,” he said.
The top ranked small school was Dartmouth College, with 37 volunteers. The University of Virginia ranked first among medium-size schools with 80 volunteers and for the 20 th consecutive year, the University of Wisconsin at Madison took the top spot among large institutions with 104 volunteers serving in the field, making it the leading producer of Peace Corps volunteers.
In addition to Colorado College, other Colorado schools on the top 25 list were the University of Colorado-Boulder, which ranked third with 82 volunteers; and Colorado State University, ranked 13 th with 57 volunteers. Both were in the large school category. The University of Denver, with 18 volunteers, ranked 19 th in the small-college category.
The Peace Corps added a new category this year and tabulated rankings for volunteers with advanced degrees. Ranking first on the graduate schools list is the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor with 22 volunteers; second and third are the University of Wisconsin at Madison with 18 alumni serving; and George Washington University with 17 volunteers.
To view the complete ranking of colleges and universities, visit http://www.peacecorps.gov/news/resources/stats/pdf/schools2006.pdf
About Colorado College
Colorado College is a nationally prominent, four-year liberal arts and sciences college that was founded in Colorado Springs in 1874. The college operates on the innovative Block Plan, in which its 1,960 students study one course at a time in intensive 3½-week blocks. For more information, visit www.ColoradoCollege.edu <http://www.ColoradoCollege.edu>.