The MSU-University of Michigan rivalry has made its way from the football field to the Peace Corps. This week, the two schools both found their way to the Peace Corps' 2004 list of Top Producing Colleges and Universities.
With 73 volunteers, MSU is eighth in a list of 25 top college and universities. Last year, it was seventh and had 66 volunteers. U-M was ranked fifth in 2004 and second in 2003.
Jay Rodman, special projects coordinator for the Office of International Studies and Programs, said campus volunteers might have felt a natural urge to compete with U-M, the school where President Kennedy originally announced the corps in 1961.
"They've always had very robust recruiting down there," he said of U-M.
But the high volunteer turnout is probably caused more by increased need than Spartans and Wolverines clashing heads, said Kristina Bliss, Chicago Regional Peace Corps recruitment coordinator. MSU follows a national trend, because the corps has received more volunteer requests from countries worldwide, she said.
One of the largest jumps in need this year was in education and agriculture, Bliss said. Corps recruiters gravitate toward MSU's strong programs in those two areas, which leads to increased numbers, Bliss said.
Psychology sophomore Erin O'Connor said she would join the corps if she were helping in an area she felt strongly about.
"Everyone can make a difference," she said.
In recent history, Peace Corps activity slowed at MSU because of funding cuts. The recruiting office re-opened in 1998 after being closed for two and a half years.
Since 1961, MSU has sent 1,931 alumni and students to work in other countries through the corps, a number that makes the university fifth overall in the nation, right behind U-M. More than 170,000 volunteers have participated in the corps.
Even MSU President M. Peter McPherson is a former Peace Corps volunteer. McPherson spent time in Peru from 1963 to 1964 and said those who give their time to the corps usually gain much more back.
"I'm convinced I would have had a very different career if I was not in the Peace Corps," he said. McPherson helped organize a credit union on top of an old Lima garbage dump, then went on to do international tax work.
"I felt, as a volunteer, that if I didn't get something done, it just might not be done at all," he said.
An informational meeting about the Peace Corps will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Wisconsin Room of the Union.
For more information on the Peace Corps, visit isp.msu.edu/peacecorps or call (517) 432-7474.
