By KATIE WILSON
STAFF WRITER

For the second year run­ning, St. Lawrence has placed fourteenth on the Peace Corps annual rankings of the Top Volunteer-producing Colleges & Universities-thus begging the question: what gives St. Lawrence students such an edge in the competition?

While our affinity for a school located in the deepest recesses of the NoCo alludes to our general stamina, it does not explain students’ ability to circumnavigate one of the lon­gest, most competitive applica­tion processes of any volunteer program. On top of that, they make it out the other side with both an acceptance letter and the prospect of being abroad for two years.

The Peace Corps, which was established in 1961, has had over 220,000 volunteers in the last fifty-five years, 258 of which have been SLU alumni. Since its establishment, the or­ganization has been involved in 140 countries, concentrat­ing on agriculture, business, community economic devel­opment, education, environ­ment, health, and youth de­velopment. Out of the current 6,919 volunteers, nine are SLU graduates.

While this number pales in comparison to the overall stats, it is noteworthy that out of 3,000 colleges and universities that have produced applicants in the last two years, three stu­dents were chosen from our small liberal-arts university.

The Peace Corps currently has volunteers stationed in 63 countries worldwide. While most volunteers (45 percent) are sent to Africa, there are also large numbers of volun­teers in areas such as Latin America (22 percent) and Eastern Europe/Central Asia (10 percent). One SLU alumna who is presently involved in the program, Julia Huber ‘15, is stationed in Rwanda.

Moreover, in recent years Peace Corps volunteers have targeted issues ranging from AIDS education to environ­mental degradation. In 2014 alone, over 3,000 volunteers were utilizing social media in an effort to stomp out malaria in Africa, 16 volunteers were in the midst of filming ‘tele­novelas’ regarding life skills and health in the Domini­can Republic, and many more were involved in implementing PEPFAR, the President’s Emer­gency Plan for Aids Relief.

And while not all volunteers go into a field related directly to their majors, many are able to incorporate their educa­tional experiences into their efforts. Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet states: “ The Peace Corps is a unique opportunity for college gradu­ates to put their education into practice and become agents of change in communities around the world.”

So, what is it about SLU stu­dents that make them so at­tractive to a world-renowned organization such as the Peace Corps?

Mckenzie Goodwin ‘16, a soon-to-be Peace Corps vol­unteer, sums it up best: “The environment here at SLU cre­ates well rounded students that are able to think critically and see situations from all different perspectives, which I would at­tribute to our close-knit com­munity and strong liberal arts background. When I think about my time here, SLU has fostered growth in me as a person beyond what I could have ever imagined.”