By Barbara Gutierrez
UM News
Donna Bean
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (March 16, 2016)—The University of Miami, which ranked No. 25 among medium-sized schools on the Peace Corps 2016 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges and Universities list, has hired a new Peace Corps recruiter. With an office at the Toppel Career Center, Donna Bean will ensure that UM continues to excel in service to the Peace Corps.
A 2015 graduate of the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Bean served in the Peace Corps in Mozambique from 2009 to 2012, using her skills as a nurse to work with HIV/AIDS patients. Now, as a part-time recruiter, she hopes to attract more UM students by providing one-on-one counseling, organized information sessions, film screenings, and attending other networking events. Currently, 13 UM alumni are serving in the Peace Corps around the world.
“My goal at the U this first year is to establish the presence of Peace Corps on campus,” Bean said. “I have an office on campus and provide weekly office hours for students to come in and ask any and all questions about the Peace Corps.”
Her efforts also include working with the School of School of Education and Human Development, which has a Peace Corps Master’s International program through its Masters in Education, Community and Social Change degree. That program couples a master’s degree with Peace Corps service.
Bean credits former UM President Donna Shalala’s enthusiasm for the Peace Corps for motivating many students to learn more about organization launched in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. One of the first Peace Corps volunteers, Shalala served in Iran, where she lived in a mud village and taught at an agricultural college, from 1962-1964. It was in the Peace Corps, Shalala always told students, that she became “a citizen of the world.”
“I think her presence and collaboration with the Peace Corps has been a wonderful influence on the campus and our student body,” Bean said, noting that UM students have been participating in the service organization since its inception.
