UW-Madison has been the nation’s leading recruiter for the Peace Corps, since the Corps’ founding by President John F. Kennedy in 1960.

In his Jan. 29 State of the Union Address, President Bush stressed the importance of Peace Corps volunteers.

“America needs citizens to extend the compassion of our country to every part of the world. So we will renew the promise of the Peace Corps, double its volunteers over the next five years, and ask it to join a new effort to encourage development and education and opportunity in the Islamic world,” Bush said.

Bush has also encouraged Americans to join the USA Freedom Corps, a new national organization targeted to increase homeland security, bolster American communities and extend compassion to foreign countries.

The Morgridge Center for Public Service in the Red Gym, 716 Langdon St., features a display honoring the contributions of UW Peace Corps volunteers.

“One of the first buildings both new and prospective UW-Madison students tour displays an exhibit Mary Russeau [of the Morgridge Center] spent much time on,” said Jon Simon, UW Peace Corps representative. “The Peace Corps exhibit not only displays support for the organization, but anyone new to the campus quickly learns of the Peace Corps legacy here.”

Interim Dean of Students Roger Howard is a Peace Corp veteran who served in Tanzania during the Vietnam War.

“Wisconsin has had from the very beginning a tradition, generally, of not just the Peace Corps, but all sorts of volunteerism,” Howard said.

He said this directly reflects the quality of students drawn to this school.

The grassroots service organization currently has 7000 volunteers world-wide serving in 70 different countries. Ninety-six UW students are currently serving abroad. To date, over 2500 alumni have volunteered.

Peace Corps volunteers work closely with host communities in many different ways.

Simon, who worked on water-well rebuilding projects in Mali, West Africa, said forestry, business advising and education are examples of work volunteers perform.

Simon also cited more than 100 current UW faculty as former Peace Corps volunteers.

Howard said his experiences in the Peace Corp taught him invaluable lessons.

“I saw first-hand in East Africa the complicated reactions of other people to the United States’ actions and foreign policy,” Howard said. “They had a mixture of admiration, awe, fear, envy, and anger towards the U.S. Seeing that helped me, especially now in relation to Afghanistan, to understand that.”

Students always have a great attitude toward volunteering, Simon said. He said another factor adding to the organization’s success is all the support and promotion by word of mouth.

“Every single student that I have talked to about recruiting knows at least one returned volunteer, whether it be a professor, a relative or a friend,” Simon said.

Peace Corps informational meetings are held every third Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Red Gym Media Room. Information is also available on the web at www.peacecorps.gov.