The University has been named the fifth-best Peace Corps Prep school, according to the organization’s 2020 list of the top schools that issue certificates.
On Sept. 30, the Peace Corps ranked Monmouth the number-five Peace Corps Prep institution in the country, along with Mercer University in Macon, GA. According to the Peace Corps, Prep certificates are received in programs designed specifically around the Peace Corps experience, preparing the candidate for deployment. In 2020, Monmouth awarded 28 Prep certificates.
Deborah Rothermund, Assistant to the Peace Corps Prep Program, said, “The goal of the program is to give students experiences that will enhance their Peace Corps applications.” By making their applications more competitive, students are more likely to be accepted into a deployment program. However, the PeaceCorps.gov website notes that a certificate is not mandatory to be accepted.
“The program is also meant to provide opportunities for like-minded students to develop relationships and ultimately earn the Peace Corps Prep Certificate,” said Rothermund.
Frank Cipriani, Director of the Peace Corps Prep Program said, “One aspect of our program that is important to note is that our Board consists of people studying multiple disciplines. When I talk about ‘relevant’ majors to the Peace Corps program, I mean some you wouldn’t necessarily think of, like art.”
Regarding what sets Monmouth’s program apart from other schools’, Rothermund said, “The Peace Corps Prep Program at Monmouth University is the only Peace Corps Prep Program at a New Jersey college.
Rothermund added, “We offer opportunities to gain experience in a variety of sectors as well as cultural events. For example, we have a relationship with Little Hawk, a Native American. Students and friends of Peace Corps Prep assist him in building and maintaining keyhole gardens in his community. In exchange, Little Hawk enlightens the participants with his professional storytelling skills.”
Monmouth is also a Coverdell Fellowship Partner School. According to the Peace Corps website, Paul D. Coverdell Fellows are returned Peace Corps Volunteers who attend graduate school to pursue Master’s degrees at reduced cost. As PeaceCorps.gov states, “All fellows complete internships in underserved communities in the United States, allowing them to bring home, and expand upon, the skills they learned as Volunteers.”
“Leila Ali, a Coverdell Fellow at Monmouth, has worked incredibly hard recruiting new Peace Corps Volunteer Prep Program students,” said Cipriani. “As you can see, in her case, the whole experience has come full circle in a way; she’s helping students whose position she was in before, so one day they might be where she is now.”
The Coverdell Fellowship is offered through Monmouth’s M.A. in Social Work Program via the School of Social Work.
Cipriani noted that parents are often wary of their children going to serve in the Peace Corps. “My daughter served in the Peace Corps for over a year,” he said. “She lived in a yurt in Mongolia for months; every day she had to walk to a well to get water. So, I definitely understand what parents go through.”
“But,” Cipriani said, “the kind of life experience my daughter gained is something I think every parent would appreciate their child having. So I use my own personal experience to sort of ‘talk them down,’ away from that fear.”
Rothermund echoed Cipriani’s sentiment. “Whenever I talk to a returned Peace Corps Volunteer,” she said, “I soon learn that their service is not just something they did; it’s become a part of who they are.”
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth University
