Peace Corps at new heights

Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams is obviously a fan of Spider-Man.

Like the origin story of the comic book superhero, Williams’ talk Wednesday in the FedEx Global Education Center focused on great power and great responsibility, using it as a selling point for the service organization.

“We have a big responsibility now, to use these resources wisely,” Williams said, in reference to the corps’ new $400 million budget he credited to bipartisanship.

2009 Peace Corps alumni volunteers

The following large colleges and
universities produced the most Peace Corps volunteers in 2009.

1. University of Washington: 101
2. University of Colorado at Boulder: 95
3. University of California at Berkeley: 89
4. Michigan State University: 86
5. University of Florida: 79
6. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: 78
7. University of Wisconsin at Madison: 77
8. University of Michigan: 73
9. The University of Texas at Austin: 67
10. University of Virginia: 64

“This is an extraordinary time for the Peace Corps.”

He also addressed plans for growth in the Peace Corps, whose volunteers spend 27 months in the program, part of it overseas. He said he spent part of Wednesday speaking with faculty about how to deepen the relationship between the corps and UNC.

Next steps with UNC could include reaching out to collaborations with the Study Abroad Office, Williams said.

Doubling the number of volunteers in four years “won’t be easy,” said Chris Gilson, a regional manager with the Peace Corps, but he is encouraged by support from the highest agencies, including the Oval Office.

Williams was sworn in as the 18th director of the Peace Corps in August, and is only the fourth director who actually served in the corps, he noted.

Although he was nominated by President Barack Obama, Williams spoke more about President John Kennedy ­— who was in office when the Peace Corps began — and realigning the organization with Kennedy’s original vision for its size and reach.

More than 150 people were in attendance. There was a collective “woah” from the audience when roughly half its members identified themselves as Peace Corps returned volunteers.

Gilson and students in attendance echoed Williams’ attribution of a spike in applications to Obama’s call to service, not the down job market.

“The economy doesn’t have anything to do with it for me,” said junior Raley White.

Senior Caitlin Clark also said she saw opportunities to broaden her horizons and help people through the corps, but added the economy didn’t have an effect on her interest.

Junior Katja Wallin said she was interested in picking up skills she might not learn in college. Both White and Wallin said they had interest in studying abroad independently of the Peace Corps.

Williams used a long list of facts in his pitch for the Peace Corps. Some were hard figures — UNC is the school with the sixth most alumni who have been volunteers ­— but the most convincing were personal stories. The Peace Corps is responsible for Williams meeting his wife and his first plane ride.

Williams also had facts to attract college students, mentioning frequent cell phone use among volunteers and re-opened programs in Indonesia and Sierra Leone. Williams described an ideal applicant as flexible and adaptable with a good sense of humor and patience.

“A lot of patience,” he added.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.