UF jumped 11 spots to rank fifth in the nation for the number of Peace Corps volunteers it produces.
UF has 79 undergraduate alumni serving in the Peace Corps, according to the Peace Corps Top Colleges 2010 listing.
The University of Washington ranked first with 101 volunteers.
“It’s a big deal for the South,” said Amy Panikowski, UF campus recruiter. “There has never been a university in the south that has been in the top 10, and now we are in the top five.”
Panikowski said she owes this year’s recruiting success to the connections between former UF Peace Corps volunteers and applicants.
She said former UF Peace Corps volunteers create connections with applicants and give them a realistic view of what the Peace Corps involves.
“I don’t want to give them an over-romanticized view, but I do want them to get a real perspective of what they are getting into,” she said.
UF alumni Emily New and John Washington have been dating since their days at Eastside High School in Gainesville, and they will be abroad serving in the Peace Corps for the next two years.
New will be working in the Republic of Georgia and Washington will be serving in Botswana. The two plan to maintain their five-year relationship regardless of the distance.
“We stayed together all through college,” Washington said. “We will write to each other and try to meet sometime in between.”
“It’s an accomplishment, and I have a lot of people who help me out,” Panikowski said. “I have my own interns who help me with advertising and promotions; returning volunteers are also very helpful and share their experience.”
