Launching Peace Corps’ 50th Anniversary
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Patricia A. Wand

Early celebrations at the University of Michigan October 12-15, 2010 launched a year-long series of events to mark the founding and legacy of Peace Corps. Several of us from the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) had the privilege of participating in the U-M events in Ann Arbor and found them informative and inspiring.

“U-M and the Peace Corps: It All Started Here,” a captivating exhibit, was up through November in the Hatcher Graduate Library. It included key documents and artifacts from the U-M Peace Corps Archives and depicted the chronology of Peace Corps beginning with that inspired moment on the steps of the Michigan Union when presidential candidate John F. Kennedy invited students to serve internationally (two a.m. October 14, 1960).

From the exhibit, speeches and conversations throughout the four days of events, I gleaned interesting facts about Peace Corps history:

• Michigan students and faculty helped to keep alive and push forward the idea of Peace Corps, even as Kennedy was getting serious push-back from his advisors, who saw a program involving so many young people as potentially too risky for international diplomacy.
•  During his Inaugural Parade in January 1961, Kennedy turned to his brother-in-law Sargent Shriver and asked him to look into an international service program for young people.
• Shriver immediately called together a group of reliable, trustworthy advisors who helped him consider numerous options for structuring and naming the program. In late February, Shriver handed Kennedy a report with recommendations.
• Kennedy signed the Executive Order to create the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961. Money for the new program came from the discretionary funds of the President.
• A major national student conference, inspired by U-M students, was held at American University in March 1961. Shriver spoke at the Americans Committed to World Responsibility (ACWR) conference. which attracted student representatives from over 400 colleges and universities across the country. Students and faculty prepared studies and recommendations concerning the structure and operation of a Peace Corps. Students discussed these ideas and confirmed their commitment to international service.
• Legislative authorization to fund the Peace Corps was passed by Congress on September 22, 1961. By that time, Peace Corps Volunteers were already serving in Ghana and Colombia.

NPCA was represented at the University of Michigan events by Board members Janet Grieg, myself, and Kevin Quigley, President. NPCA Vice President Anne Baker and NPCA staff Erica Burman and Jonathan Pearson also participated in a Symposium and events.