Archive - February 2, 2014

    This is a good time to remember how very much Robert Textor contributed to the Peace Corps. He was one of the original Peace Corps staffers. He believed passionately in the Volunteer and just as importantly, the RPCV. Textor was the the author of the “In, Up, and Out” policy or as it is more commonly known, “the five year rule.” But, he insisted that tenure should be eight years, not five. He envisioned a Peace Corps agency staffed 90% by RPCVs, arguing that the cross-cultural experience of the Volunteer was transformative and should be incorporated into every function of the Peace Corps agency. In the months before his passing, he was still fighting for that vision. When the Office of the Inspector General reviewed the impact of the Five Year Rule,in 2012, the evaluator, an RPCV(!), interviewed Dr. Textor. Dr. Textor wrote an essay elaborating on the . . .