UA News

The UA Peace Corps Fellows program is the second largest in the U.S.

Peace Corps Week begins today on The University of Arizona campus and brings together former and current UA students and fellows who have committed to the scholarship of engagement, community outreach and service in Tucson and throughout the world.

"These students bring back stories of breakthroughs that help communities survive by creating sustainable, income-generating activities for women, establishing micro-credit businesses in poverty-ridden, isolated communities or providing education on health and nutrition," said Georgia Ehlers, director of fellowships and community engagement in the UA Graduate College.

"What is amazing is that they then return to provide community service here in Tucson and the surrounding communities as well."

The UA Peace Corps Fellows program is the second largest program of its kind in the U.S. There are currently 53 fellows at the UA studying in 19 different programs across 12 different colleges and schools. Fellows integrate graduate school with community service and undertake internships related to their degrees that help meet the needs of underserved American communities.

Each volunteer completes 1,000 hours of service to an underserved community in southern Arizona and, to date, the UA Fellows have completed over 135,000 hours of service.

"I have found that my service experience is providing me with the opportunity to develop and implement a wide variety of skills that I might otherwise not be exposed to from my studies," said Beau James, a UA graduate student and Peace Corps fellow working on a master's degree in arts in Near East studies focusing on the cultural, economic, and political relationship between China and the Arab states.

He served in Peace Corps in China from 2005 to 2007 as a university English teacher in the Sichuan province. He has received a Foreign Language Area Studies Academic Year Award and has interned with the Partnership for Equity and Civic Engagement, or PECE, a collaborative group working to address housing, economic activity, family income and wealth, quality education and healthy environments.

"I am engaging in community development, planning and practices, and learning means of communication and community engagement that are effective and fair," James said.

Peace Corps Week brings together the current members of the Peace Corps Fellows program at the UA, the Southern Arizona Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and the UA Peace Corps Campus, an office that works to recruit new fellows to the UA Peace Corps Program.

The keynote event occurs Wednesday during the Peace Corps Fair, which will be held at the UA Memorial Student Union's North Ballroom from 4-7 p.m. More than 100 returned Peace Corps volunteers will be present with displays, textiles, art, mementos, costumes, music, photographs and amazing stories to share.

Peace Corps recruiters will be available during the fair to answer questions about serving and welcome new graduates or seasoned baby boomers looking toward a next career.

Throughout the week, a team of Peace Corps volunteers will share their insights on cultures from around the world with the Tucson community as well as contribute time to community service. 

Additional Peace Corps Week events Include:

School and community outreach, Feb. 23-24

Returned volunteers will visit Tucson-area classrooms and community venues to talk about their experiences and share their perspectives on the world.

Discussion and movie screening, Feb. 23, 7 p.m., Gallagher Theater

Attending the screening will be Kadiatou Diallo, the mother of Amadou Diallo, a Guinean immigrant who was shot 41 times by police officers in New York City. The documentary "Death of Two Sons" depicts the lives of Diallo and Jesse Thyne, a Peace Corps volunteer who lived with Diallo's family in Guinea and died in a car accident there. Their deaths sparked activism in both countries; in Guinea, Peace Corps volunteers rallied to raise awareness about the unsafe road conditions while in the U.S. the African American community and others rallied to end racial profiling. This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership as part of the African American Heritage Month celebration on campus.

The week concludes with a community service project in which a team of volunteers will pick up trash with the community organization Humane Borders on heavily travelled migrant routes.