Reviewing materials for BGSU's Peace Corps programs are (left to right) Margaret Booth, V Rosser, Beatrice Guenther and Molly Kosnak
Peace Corps Fellows program celebrates 10 years at BGSU
This academic year marks the 10-year anniversary of the Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Fellows Program at Bowling Green State University.
The fellows program works to provide returning Peace Corps volunteers with financial assistance as they transition into graduate school. In 10 years, BGSU has hosted more than 70 Peace Corps Fellows in a range of graduate programs.
The Peace Corps Fellows Program was made possible at BGSU through the work of Dr. Margaret Zoller Booth, dean of the Graduate College. Having served in the Peace Corps herself, she saw a need for a Peace Corps program to exist at BGSU. In 2008, she founded the Master of Arts in cross-cultural and international education (MACIE), BGSU’s first Coverdell academic program.
Establishment of this program allowed BGSU to host returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) in graduate fellowships. Since 2008, Booth has continued championing the University’s partnership with the Peace Corps and has expanded fellowship eligibility to all graduate programs at BGSU. Her passion for the Peace Corps stems from her own personal experience volunteering for the organization.
“Serving as a Peace Corps volunteer changed everything I thought I knew about life,” Booth said.
After her undergraduate career, Booth served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1983-84.
“You cannot go in with high expectations,” she said. “I went in ready to do a job for two years. In that time, I was expected to teach high school English courses. But as time goes on, you quickly learn that you may also become the school nurse, the counselor or the sports coach, and you truly become a member of the community you serve.”
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