Archive - April 17, 2017

  Peace Corps service is not without real risks, as these two tragedies demonstrate. • CBS4News in Denver, Colorado reported on the death of PCV Cody Oser in Panama, recently. Cody Oser was an Engineering Graduate of Colorado State University. Oser’s father, Steven, tells CBS4 there is “absolutely no foul play.”His son’s body was found in the shallow water of a creek. “He was going down by a river and going across some boulders and he slipped,” said his father.” In a news release, acting Peace Corps director Sheila Crowley said, “His impressive engineering skills made him stand out as a volunteer because he dedicated himself to working with communities around the world to find solutions to their technological needs. His passing is a profound loss for the Peace Corps community as we mourn along with his family and friends.” The news report concluded: “The family is already starting an effort . . .

  Mark Gearan, who worked on the nomination of Bill Clinton and then as Senior Staff in the White House before becoming Director of the Peace Corps in 1995, has asked his friend and the former president to be the commencement speaker at Hobart and William Smith College this spring. Mark D. Gearan, the longest-serving president in the history of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, has already announced that he will conclude his duties as president at the end of the 2016-17 academic year. At the time of his appointment in 1999, Gearan was one of the youngest college presidents in the nation and a “non-traditional” choice given his background as Director of the Peace Corps and White House senior staff member. When he concludes his presidency in 2017, he will have served for 18 years, leading the Colleges through a period of unprecedented growth. Gearan, with help from his . . .