Fall 2010 - National Peace Corps Association

allroom. He, too, proposed whatthe Daily called “a U.N. civil service,which would send doctors, agriculturalexperts and teachers to needy countriesthroughout the world.”Among Bowles’ listeners were twomarried graduate students, Alan andJudy Guskin. From Bowles’ talk, theywent to a diner where they drafted aletter to the Daily on a napkin. Theletter was published the followingFriday. The Guskins noted that Kennedyand Bowles had “emphasized thatdisarmament and peace lie to a verygreat extent in our hands and requestedour participation throughout the worldas necessary for the realization of thesegoals.” The two then pledged to “devotea number of years to work in countrieswhere our help is needed,” and theychallenged other students to writesimilar pledges to Kennedy and Bowles.“With this request,” they wrote, “weexpress our faith that those of us whoGu s k i n le t t e r to th e Michigan Da i l y th a t inspired an ou t p o u r i n g of su p p o r t.The Michigan Daily, October 21, 1960To the Editor:Representative Chester Bowles and Senator Kennedy in theirspeeches to the students of the University of Michigan both emphasizedthat disarmament and peace lie to a very great extent in our hands andrequested our participation throughout the world as necessary for therealization of these goals.In reply to this urgent request, we both hereby state that wewould devote a number of years to work in countries where our helpis needed, either through the United Nations or through the UnitedStates Foreign Service.WE ALSO WOULD like to request that all students who feel that theywould like to help the cause of world peace by direct participationsend a letter to this paper and/or our address. These letters will beforwarded to Kennedy and Bowles as an answer of the students of theUniversity of Michigan to their plea for help. If it is at all possible,we would like students to start asking others in their classes, dorms,sororities, fraternities, house, etc. to send letters expressing theirdesire to work toward these goals. We also request that those whohave friends at other universities write to them asking them to startsimilar action on their campuses.With this request we express our faith that those of us who havebeen fortunate enough to receive an education will want to applytheir knowledge through direct participation in the underdevelopedcommunities of the world.— Alan E. Guskin, Grad.— Judith T. Guskin, Grad.have been fortunate enough to receivean education will want to apply theirknowledge through direct participationin the underdeveloped communities ofthe world.”Over the next two weeks, eventsmoved fast. The Guskins werecontacted by Samuel Hayes, theprofessor who had written the positionpaper on a youth corps for Kennedy.Together, they called a mass meeting.Some 250 students came out to sign apetition saying they would volunteer.Hundreds more signers followedwithin days.Then Mildred Jeffrey, a Democraticstate committeewoman and UAWofficial whose daughter attended U-M,got word to Ted Sorensen about whatKennedy and Bowles had wrought inAnn Arbor. Sorensen told Kennedy.On November 2, in a major address atthe Cow Palace in San Francisco,Kennedy formally proposed “a peacecorps of talented young men andwomen, willing and able to serve theircountry…for three years as an alternativeor as a supplement to peacetime selectiveservice.” (Nixon responded by calling theidea “a cult of escapism” and “a haven fordraft dodgers.”)On Sunday, November 6, two daysbefore the election, Kennedy wasexpected at the Toledo airport. Threecarloads of U-M students, including theGuskins, drove down to show him thepetitions. “He took them in his handsand started looking through the names,”Judy Guskin recalled later. “He was veryinterested.”Alan asked: “Are you really seriousabout the Peace Corps?”“Until Tuesday we’ll worry about thisnation,” Kennedy said. “After Tuesday,the world.”Two days later, Kennedy defeatedNixon by some 120,000 votes, one ofthe slimmest margins in U.S. history.Some argue the Peace Corps proposalmay have swayed enough votes to makethe difference.“It might still be just an idea butfor the affirmative response of thoseMichigan students and faculty,” wrote30 WorldView Fall 2010 National Peace Corps Association