Earlham College | News from Public Affairs

Kevin Quigley is president and chief executive officer of the National Peace Corps Association, which is a group of more than 185,000 Peace Corps alumni who seek to foster peace through service, education and advocacy.

RICHMOND, Ind. — Kevin Quigley, president and chief executive officer of the National Peace Corps Association, presents "Peace Corps and the 21st Century: How Expanding Peace Corps Can Help Restore U.S. Standing in the World," during an Earlham convocation on Wednesday, Feb. 13.

The talk begins at 1 p.m. in Carpenter Hall's Goddard Auditorium. Admission is free, and the public is invited to attend.

"Peace Corps has been described as 'America's best face abroad,'" says Quigley, who is a former Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. "The evidence from 190,000 volunteers in 139 countries shows that person-to-person contact, which is central to the Peace Corps experience, changes perceptions about our country and its role in the world. Besides changing perceptions, the Peace Corps experience also changes lives — the lives of those who are volunteers and those with whom they work."

Quigley says that when President John F. Kennedy established the program in 1961, he spoke of reaching a goal of 100,000 Peace Corps volunteers a year. Kennedy hoped that within a decade a million Americans would have had a life-changing international experience and an ongoing relationship with individuals and communities overseas.

"While I'd ideally like to see 100,000 Americans a year with Peace Corps experience, I would be very pleased if we could double the current number of volunteers from 8,000 to 16,000 annually," he says.

Quigley thinks that the upcoming presidential election serves as a perfect opportunity to revise and enliven the Peace Corps.

"It is not simply a question of expanding the numbers of Peace Corps but finding new and innovative ways for Americans to volunteer overseas that add value to the communities they work with, as well as helping the volunteers develop their skills that also contribute to our national interest," he says.

"What will change is not what Peace Corps volunteers do, but how they do it. Increasingly this will involve a more nimble use of technology, as well as far more partnering with national non-governmental organizations and corporations."

Quigley is a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow, a program administered by the Council of Independent Colleges in Washington, D.C. The program brings prominent artists, diplomats, journalists, business leaders and other professionals to campuses across the United States for a weeklong residential program of classes, seminars, workshops, lectures and informal discussions. During Quigley's residency, he will visit Earlham, Richmond High School, the Boys and Girls clubs, and other community organizations in Richmond.

Contact:
Mark Blackmon, director of media relations
765/983-1256 — E-Mail Mark