Boston University ranked fourth among graduate schools on the Peace Corps’ 2017 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges and Universities list on Tuesday. This was the first time in seven years that the university, which currently has 15 BU alumni volunteering worldwide, was included among the top volunteer-producing graduate schools.
Graduate College of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean Jeffrey Hughes said the ranking does not surprise him, given that BU’s professional graduate schools actively encourage students to participate in community service.
“Our medical school is linked to the hospital that serves Boston’s unserved populations, demonstrating to our medical students the great need for decent medical services among this country’s socially disadvantaged communities,” Hughes said. “The School of Public Health emphasizes global public health and the need to think globally, because diseases don’t recognize national borders.”
SPH Dean Sandro Galea added that the college has been involved with the Peace Corps for many years.
“We have a steady stream of alumni engaged with [the Peace Corps],” Galea said. “This reflects the shared principles that animate the School of Public Health and the Peace Corps — principles of service and social justice underlie what we do and what the Peace Corps does.”
John Cortright, an SPH alumnus and current Peace Corps volunteer, said he believes international public service “was a natural extension of [his] education” at BU.
“During my time at BU, I was in a setting unlike I had ever been in before,” Cortright said. “I was surrounded by people from all over the world in my program, which really brought me closer to all the different cultures and gave me a unique worldview.”
This, coupled with SPH’s practical experience requirement, led Cortright to pursue volunteering service after graduation, he said.
“At [BU], you get introduced to many different cultures through friends, and I think that gives you more of an idea that there’s a lot more out there,” Cortright said. “That curiosity could potentially lead someone to consider the Peace Corps, which is a good way to expand your knowledge about the world.”
Despite an active graduate population of Peace Corps volunteers, Boston University’s undergraduate students are not as involved, Hughes said.
“I hope we could instill in more of our undergraduate students a sense of social justice, public service and adventure so that a greater number of them decided to volunteer for the Peace Corps for a couple of years before getting started on a career,” he said.
Moving forward, Hughes said BU will strive to increase its undergraduate engagement in the Peace Corps and hopefully make the Peace Corps list of top volunteer-producing undergraduate schools.
Several students said the ranking reflects positively on volunteer work in the BU community.
Emmanuel Gomez, a senior in the College of Communication, said he thinks the ranking says a lot about the type of students that BU fosters.
“I think that BU encourages volunteering indirectly, because this school is really diverse and also encourages people to study abroad in different countries and experience different cultures,” Gomez said. “[This] probably pushes more students to join the Peace Corps because it is basically international service much like what BU exposes them to.”
Alex Goodman, a sophomore in COM, said he finds the ranking encouraging given his interest in the Peace Corps.
“I have actually thought about joining the Peace Corps after graduation so it’s nice to know that many other students who have graduated from BU feel the same,” Goodman said.
Daniel McCormack, a sophomore in CAS, said the First-Year Student Outreach Project, a community service experience incoming freshman can choose to participate in, is one of the ways in which BU encourages its students to volunteer.
“I think the option to do FYSOP at the beginning of freshman year definitely encourages people to participate in volunteering in a fun way, and because it is the first thing that many people do here at BU it really sets the tone for the rest of their time as a student,” McCormack said.
