May 15, 2017 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Phoenix Rising & Reading!

May 15 2017

Last week in Phoenix there was a “double reading” and an evening of enjoying host country food. Mike Walker (Guatemala 1971-73), who has just published his memoir Different Latitudes with Peace Corps Writers and Mike Stake (India 1966-68), author of Ripples in the Pond — also published by Peace Corps Writers, read from their books, and then invited guests — RPCVs from Moldova, Liberia, Samoa, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela — to share their Peace Corps tales. Of the evening of readings, storytelling, and wonderful home-cooked food, Mark wrote, “My Guatemalan wife, Ligia, brought Guatemalan goodies like black beans and Rosa de Jamaica (hibiscus juice) and Mike and his wife brought Indian delicacies. It made for quite an international exchange. I felt that this is what sharing our books and appreciation of different cultures is all about.” The next such event in downtown Phoenix is on May 25th at the Pomelo Restaurant, hosted by . . .

F.F. Quigley (Thailand) seeks a way to raise the numbers at Marlboro College

May 15 2017

Kevin Quigley (Thailand 1976-79 & CD Thailand 2013-15 plus the former head of the NPCA) has a new problem as the president of Marlboro College, in Vermont. A recent study by the National Association of College and University Business Officers is showing that tuition discounting at private colleges and universities is straining colleges and their enrollment is still weak. Colleges are now worried about the sustainability of their tuition discounting strategies. “We offer an incredibly generous financial aid package, and someone else increases it by $10,000 or $15,000,” Kevin is quoted in an interview with Inside Higher Education. “We talk to the students or parents and they say, ‘We love Marlboro, we love what you do there, but they just sweetened the pot by $10,000 or $15,000.’ What can you do about it?” Marlboro is in many ways an extreme example of the pressures placed on small colleges. It enrolls . . .

Archive - May 15, 2017