Wooster Grads Make Their Mark in the Peace Corps

WOOSTER, Ohio — The College of Wooster has further enhanced its reputation for international service with its inclusion in the Peace Corps’ Top 25 list of small colleges and universities whose alumni volunteer for the organization. With eight graduates currently serving overseas, Wooster ranks 23^rd on the list.
This is the first time that Wooster has made the Top 25, but overall the College’s alumni participation has been stellar. Since the agency was created by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, 217 Wooster grads have served overseas.
One Wooster graduate currently making a difference abroad is Eryn Greaney, who has been serving in Ghana as a health volunteer since last April. A native of Rochester, Minn., Greaney works to educate women and children on such topics as family planning methods, reproductive health, breast cancer, HIV/AIDS prevention, cervical cancer, and malaria prevention. She also works with various community groups to help educate her entire community about healthy and sustainable living.
“The experiences and education I had at Wooster prepared me for my service,” said Greaney, a 2014 graduate whose first glimpse of international service came through one of the College’s study-abroad programs. “The professors and students exposed me to a global perspective, and the community support encouraged me to challenge myself in ways I could not have imagined.”
Wooster’s Peace Corps preparatory program offers a specialized curriculum that equips students for international service opportunities. With courses in international studies, education, and foreign language, along with a community-service project and a study-abroad experience, the program opens students’ eyes to some of the many ways they can make a difference around the world.
“The Peace Corps is a unique opportunity for college graduates to put their education into practice and become agents of change in communities around the world,” said Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet. “Today’s graduates understand the importance of intercultural understanding and are raising their hands in record numbers to take on the challenge of international service.”
The Peace Corps seeks to identify the best and brightest Americans, and send them abroad on behalf of the United States to address the most pressing needs of people around the world. Volunteers work with their community members at the grassroots level to develop sustainable solutions to challenges in education, health, economic development, agriculture, environment, and youth development. Through their service, volunteers gain a unique cultural understanding and a life-long commitment to service that positions them to succeed in today’s global economy.

Posted in News on February 19, 2016.