<p>Hi All.</p>
<p>This is a heartening list to see year-to-year (and nice to see Tufts consistently on it). What does Peace Corp involvement say about the schools that make the list? Is it a reflection of the character of the student body, of depth in certain programs/ majors, or of a long-established and entrenched tradition? </p>
<p>Hmmm . . . except that Tufts isn’t on that list! I think this is the link you wanted:</p>
<p><a href=“http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/stats/schools2014.pdf”>http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/stats/schools2014.pdf</a></p>
<p>Tufts is ranked #9 in the category of “Medium Colleges and Universities."</p>
<p>The PC homepage, which lists top 5 or 6 schools in each category, includes the link to the longer official list, on which Tufts stands at #9 in its category. Sorry to have posted not quite the exact link. </p>
<p>Impressive regardless.</p>
<p>Hoped to see some conversation with respect to my questions. The point of the post. </p>
<p>What is even more impressive is that Tufts is the smallest school in the group. If you measure volunteers as a percentage of undergraduate population, Tufts rises to #2 behind American.</p>
<p>To address your questions, I think that Tufts’ level of involvement in the Peace Corps is a reflection of some of the core values associated with the school’s culture. </p>
<ol>
<li> Global awareness</li>
<li> A sense of social justice</li>
<li> A bias toward action</li>
</ol>
<p>I also think that the Tufts’ culture is in fact “entrenched” and that it was the impetus for creating the first graduate school of international affairs in 1933 (Fletcher) and the only college of citizenship and public service (Tisch). I also think it explains the language/culture requirement. </p>
<p>As to the origins of the culture, I would suggest that the Tufts culture bears some resemblance to that of its Universalist founders. As a point of interest, the Universalist Church no longer exists and Tufts is one of only two remaining colleges founded by Universalists. The other is St. Lawrence University - which also happens to be known for its strong international studies program.</p>
<p>I’d always thought that Tufts was founded by Unitarians, but I was wrong. Or half wrong. The Universalists merged with the Unitarians in 1961. I agree with Mastadon about the core values of the school.</p>
<p>Here is another example - a new gap year program that all can afford…</p>
<p><a href=“http://now.tufts.edu/articles/gap-year-reimagined”>http://now.tufts.edu/articles/gap-year-reimagined</a></p>