It is the first Puerto Rican university to be selected to offer the Prep Program for undergraduate students.
By Integrated Communications
Sagrado Corazón University was selected as the first and only Puerto Rican institution of higher education to be part of the preparatory program for undergraduate students of the United States Peace Corps, known as Peace Corps Prep.
This certification program strengthens students’ professional and intercultural skills, combining academic preparation with volunteering and an entrepreneurial project in areas such as health, education, the environment, and community economic development, among others. Once the Peace Corps Prep requirements are completed, the objectives of which are on par with Sagrado’s academic project, the student receives a certification from the Peace Corps that allows them to expand their job opportunities or to become part of the organization’s volunteer group.
“At Sagrado, we are honored to have been selected by the Peace Corps to start this program in Puerto Rico. It is validation of what our academic project fosters in students: an academic preparation of excellence that allows them to undertake social change projects and offer the best of themselves through volunteering,” highlighted Sagrado’s president, Gilberto J. Marxuach Torrós.
Peace Corps Director, Jody Olsen, highlighted that “today’s students are passionate about service and leaving their mark on the world. Through the Peace Corps Prep program at Sagrado Corazón University, students can develop skills specifically targeted at Peace Corps service and careers in the international development and service communities.
During the program’s virtual initiation activity, Christian Rodríguez Dubocq, a graduate of Sagrado’s Bachelor of International Studies program, shared his experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia. “It was a transformative experience. I was working as an English teacher assistant in a rural community on the outskirts of Barranquilla. It requires a lot of effort and dedication, but it gives you great satisfaction.”
The Peace Corps, created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, has training programs in more than 125 leading academic institutions throughout the United States, and its alliance with Sagrado is the only one in Puerto Rico. Since its inception, the program’s goal has been to satisfy the demand for volunteers with a broad and relevant set of experiences.
For more information about Sagrado’s Peace Corps Prep program, access www.sagrado.edu/pcprep or write to pcprep@sagrado.edu.