Sebastian Gaeta ’24
With nine alumni currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers in eight countries around the world, Kenyon ranked second among small schools in a list published by the government agency on May 7.
Since the Peace Corps was founded in 1961 to foster world peace and friendship through community-based development and intercultural understanding, 243 alumni from the College have served abroad as volunteers. Kenyon currently has alumni serving in Belize, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, North Macedonia, Peru, Senegal, and Thailand.
“It’s something to be proud of,” said Stephen Volz, professor of history who serves as faculty advisor for Kenyon’s Peace Corps Prep program. A Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana from 1985-87, he said the education students receive here prepares them well for this sort of intense service opportunity.
“Some central tenets of the liberal arts are to be open-minded, flexible and interdisciplinary, and those are definitely some of the main traits that the Peace Corps looks for,” he said. “Intellectual and emotional nimbleness, and genuine curiosity and receptivity to new ideas, are essential for a successful Peace Corps experience.”
The Peace Corps’ model of community-based development and people-to-people diplomacy connects skilled, committed Americans to work in partnership with welcoming host communities. As part of the program, more than 240,000 Americans in 144 countries have supported global progress in agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health, and youth in development in some of the most remote areas of the world.
Marne Ausec, director of the Center for Global Engagement, said the Peace Corps is just one example of how a liberal arts education can be utilized to address global challenges. “Our students take what they have learned here and apply it to real world problems,” she said.
Among the current batch of Peace Corps volunteers is Sebastian Gaeta ’24, a political science major who has spent the past eight months working as a community and economic development associate in Skopje, North Macedonia. There he works with two non-governmental organizations, doing grant writing and project budgeting aimed at youth and infrastructure development.
He said his experience at Kenyon helped him succeed in his new roles and also fostered important values that are at the heart of his volunteer experience.
“The writing and analytical skills I developed in my political science and history classes have been incredibly valuable in allowing me to contribute meaningfully to my role in creating grant proposals,” he wrote in an email. “More importantly, I think Kenyon taught me to truly value and appreciate the idea of community, which has played a big role in helping me adapt to a new culture and build meaningful, lasting relationships.”
Peace Corps Chief Executive Officer Allison Greene said in a statement that schools like Kenyon produce volunteers who not only help other countries but return with skills that will serve American society well, too.
“These top-ranked schools understand the transformative power of public service and human connection,” she said. “The Peace Corps builds invaluable intercultural communication skills, a broadened worldview, and adaptive leadership qualities needed in the American workforce today.”
The next application deadline for people interested in serving in the Peace Corps is July 1.