Morgan State University Alum Among First Peace Corps Volunteers to Return to Service Overseas

For more than four decades, Peace Corps volunteers have worked overseas at the grassroots level with the goal of promoting world peace and friendship. In March of 2020, the agency suspended international operations and underwent an unprecedented global evacuation, pulling volunteers from more than 60 countries around the world as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. With most of the world having returned to some semblance of normalcy, Morgan State alumna Cecilia McGill was among the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service.

McGill, who is a graduate of Morgan’s Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management (SBM) and holds a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in international business, is serving as a volunteer in Albania in the community economic development sector. Her return to volunteer service supporting grassroots improvement projects in developing or distressed countries has been welcomed.

“I am motivated to help and serve the global community where I am needed. I want to learn about different cultures and exchange knowledge with communities abroad,” McGill said. “I look forward to meeting the locals, learning a new language, and making an impact.”

Peace Corps volunteers live and work side by side with community members on locally prioritized projects, building relationships, exchanging cultures and knowledge, and helping transform lives for generations. The volunteer cohorts are made up of both first-time volunteers and volunteers who were evacuated in early 2020. After completing a three-month training, volunteers are placed with host communities globally, where they collaborate on locally prioritized projects in one of Peace Corps’ six sectors – agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health, or youth in development – and all will engage in COVID-19 response and recovery work.

In addition to receiving her master’s degree from Morgan, McGill served as an undergraduate Business Finance instructor in the School of Business’ Department of Business Administration. McGill’s career trajectory landed her squarely at the epicenter of international financial management, amassing more than 25 years of international experience serving as a representative for the United Nations. As minister plenipotentiary and deputy permanent representative, she represented Liberia at the United Nations General Assembly. Moreover, McGill served in various capacities at the U.N. Secretariat, peacekeeping operations, and World Food Program, having been stationed in Israel, Bosnia, Kosovo, Nairobi, Somalia, Italy, and Rwanda, among other locales.

Recognizing the importance of the Peace Corps and its mission, Morgan established a Peace Corps recruiting office on its campus under the purview of the Center for Global Studies and International Education. Morgan serves as part of the mid-Atlantic region of the Peace Corps, which includes Maryland, Virginia, D.C., West Virginia, and North Carolina. Morgan students can bolster their academic careers through volunteerism and participation in the Peace Corps. In addition to receiving scholarships, volunteers are also eligible to earn credits toward graduate school while in service. Since 1961, nearly 2,000 HBCU graduates have served as Peace Corps volunteers. Morgan students interested in serving as a Peace Corps volunteer can learn more at morgan.edu/peacecorps.

The Peace Corps is among three extremely critical volunteer-based agencies supported by the U.S. federal government. The others include Job Corps and AmeriCorps. As an anchor institution committed to public service and addressing the societal needs of our most underserved communities, Morgan has long produced civic-minded graduates who are prepared to actively contribute to a global, interdependent society. In 2021, Morgan became the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in Maryland to be designated an AmeriCorps’ Schools of National Service by the Governor’s Office on Service and Volunteerism.