PEACE CORPS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

3940 years, so will our recruitment efforts so that we reach out to all peopleregardless of faith, married couples and the disabled, seniors and retirees, and thescores of men and women currently in the work force or between jobs and lookingto make a meaningful contribution to the United States. 100Vasquez states that volunteers in the 21 st century are likely to change careers, be olderthan the traditional volunteer, or be from a diverse background. Current demographicsreveal the average age of volunteers is 28. 15 percent of all volunteers are considered of“ethnic” background; the rest are white. 58 percent of volunteers are female and 42percent male. Six percent of volunteers are over the age of 50, and nine percent of thevolunteers are married. The average age of Peace Corps volunteers has increased overthe past four decades, as have the percentages of “ethnic” volunteers. Women havealways volunteered at higher rates than men, and the percentage of older and marriedvolunteers has increased in recent years. 101In the past, volunteers consisted primarily ofrecent college graduates. Volunteers are older on average, revealing that what was the“norm” is changing.The Peace Corps has subdivided its recruitment strategy, targeting specific groupsof potential volunteers. General recruitment rhetoric remains a constant, focusing on thenewly graduated college student. Aside from this general rhetoric, today’s Peace Corpstargets people without Bachelor’s degrees, people in transition from one career to thenext, the older volunteer, and people of color. For each of these targeted recruitmentgroups, the organization designed a specific rhetorical strategy to appeal to thesensibilities of the different potential volunteers. An analysis of recruitment rhetoricreveals that the Peace Corps is responding to the changing face of America and changed