The one-of-a-kind Peace Corps “Peace Car” visited campus September 14 to promote the service-driven organization and the strong partnership it shares with the Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development.
Students engaged with Brett Heimann, a Peace Corps recruiter who served in Togo, West Africa. Along with Heimann, Stevenson Center faculty and students shared information about the Peace Corps and Illinois State’s two related graduate programs: Coverdell Fellows and Master’s International.
Illinois State’s first Peace Corps campus ambassador Alia Drissi attended the event. Campus ambassadors are university students who work closely with Peace Corps to introduce Peace Corps to new and diverse student groups and to promote Peace Corps generally. A member of the Delta Zeta sorority and a marketing major, Drissi hopes to join the Peace Corps after graduation and eventually work in Tunisia, where her parents met through Peace Corps.
“It’s kind of a family affair,” Drissi said. “I’ve seen how much my parents enjoyed serving and now I want to experience it for myself.”
Others in attendance shared this same kind of passion for service. “I just want to make a difference,” said junior biological sciences major Taylor Suo. “I don’t know where I want to serve—all I know is that I want to make a difference in the world, in whatever way I can.” Suo was one of dozens of students eager to learn more about volunteering as well as earning a master’s degree through the Stevenson Center’s unique, interdisciplinary applied graduate programs.
Founded in 1994 as the first Coverdell Peace Corps Fellows Program in community and economic development, the Stevenson Center educates the next generation of community and economic development professionals through interdisciplinary, applied graduate programs. The Coverdell Peace Corps Fellows Program allows returned Peace Corps volunteers to pursue graduate study while serving in U.S. communities. The Peace Corps Master’s International Program is for those who want to combine graduate study with Peace Corps service.
The Applied Community and Economic Development Fellows Program is for those with other kinds of service experience, for example with AmeriCorps. For each program offered through the Stevenson Center, master’s degrees are available in applied economics, political science, and sociology. Fellows may also pursue master’s degrees in anthropology or in kinesiology and recreation. Over 160 alumni have served organizations in Bloomington-Normal, across Illinois, and around the world.
