Pushing the Peace Corps

Harvard's "peace corps" plan, proposed by Messrs. Bramson, Eberly, and Sigmund several weeks ago, seems to be moving slowly toward some final form. It is no closer to official approval than when it was put forth, but the signs of University Hall interest are encouragingly great. The disturbing fact, particularly for the ten per cent of the senior class that has expressed a desire to participate, is that time will soon run out, if the University wants to start some sort of small scale program next fall.

The Harvard plan, as it has now evolved, is probably the best of all possible "peace corps." It will give the beneficiaries the teachers they need, not the manual labor they don't know what to do with. Africa has no use for a massive American work camp, no matter what the spiritual benefits of such a project might be for the students who participated.

The new nations, as Elliot Berg (another local peace corps sponsor) has said, need "teachers, not doers," and this is precisely what the University's program would provide--as the individual nation wants them and is willing to pay their salaries. The University's financial participation would probably be limited to indoctrination and travel expenses. Representatives of Western Nigeria and Kenya have expressed interest in the plan on this basis.

But, while thus far the Harvard proposal has avoided the most obvious pitfall--that of uselessness--there remains the danger of losing sight of the program's purpose. Any "peace corps" proposal must be directed to the real needs of the underdeveloped nations, not toward providing American students with an interesting social experience. For this reason, any project must be what the beneficiaries want and need, on the terms they find most convenient.

Some people connected with the local proposal have seemed to view the peace corps as a kind of Soc Rel experiment for the American participants. To keep this kind of thinking from taking precedence over the requirements of the emerging nations, the University might invite the Nigerian or Kenyan government to take part in the selection and indoctrination processes. Thus the primary purpose of the peace corps--that of aiding underdeveloped nations--can remain the focus of attention, and not be lost in extraneous sociological considerations.

Much of the current interest in peace corps was stimulated by Senator Kennedy's campaign proposal late in October. Presumably some sort of legislation in the field will come before Congress next year, but passage may well take more than one session. In this case, the efforts and experience of twenty-five members of the Harvard Class of 1961 could assume considerable importance. A small but operative University program next fall, worthwhile in itself, would also serve as an extremely helpful guide for a much larger Government project.