Peace Corps Week at the Atlanta University Center Campuses
by Ann Perrelli, PC Liaison
Peace Corps southeast regional recruitment office celebrated Peace Corps Week at the Atlanta University Center the week of November 15-19.
Many Atlanta area returned volunteers shared their experiences as panelists in an effort to boost minority participation in the Peace Corps. Morehouse graduates Tony Pinder, Peace Corps director of Minority National Recruitment Initiatives (Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea); Southeast Regional Manager John Eaves; and San Francisco Manager Harris Bostic (Guinea) moderated many of the sessions.
The indomitable Willie Wilkerson (Cameroon) kicked off the week's events at Morris Brown College discussing with Katrina Mathis (Guinea) and Tony Pinder, why blacks should consider the Peace Corps. Morehouse graduate Samuel Bacote, III (Ghana) and Adrienne Fagler (Russia) described Peace Corps as a launching pad for international careers at Clark Atlanta University. At Morehouse College, Spelman graduate and currently serving volunteer Heather Joy Thompson (Burkina Faso), Morehouse alum Kevin Clements (Swaziland), and Dana Miller (Benin) described how Peace Corps gave them an opportunity to see Africa for free. In a subsequent panel discussion at Morehouse, Jim Setzer (Zaire) and Tony Pinder described graduate school opportunities and Peace Corps.
The week wound down at Spelman College when AARPCV president Suzanne Marks (Togo), Rulester Davis (Kenya), Shari Rates (Micronesia), and Heather Joy Thompson talked about empowering women in the developing world. At Morehouse School of Medicine, Suzanne Marks (Togo), Vicki Calhoun, RN (Colombia,), nutritionist Rulester Davis (Kenya,), and the CDC's Sheri-Nouane Johnson (Ivory Coast, Thailand) addressed pre-med and public health students about making a difference at home and abroad. Events were well attended. They garnered the support of students and faculty. Events and panelist's stories appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Creative Loafing, Morehouse's alumni magazine, In Site Magazine, AUC Digest, and Clark Atlanta University's public access TV channel 3.
Speeches by AARPCV President Suzanne Marks at AUC: