February 28, 2006

Volkart stays home

Ashland man removed from Peace Corps assignment after making inflammatory remarks about U.S. policy

By Jennifer Squires
Ashland Daily Tidings

Derek Volkart was planning on being in northern Africa on Friday.

Instead, he’s in Ashland waiting for an explanation.

An article that appeared in the Daily Tidings that led to Derek Volkart being removed from his Peace Corps assignment makes that rounds Saturday night at the Siskiyou Brew Pub. Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings

The Peace Corps pulled Volkart from a two-year volunteer position in Morocco on Feb. 15 after officials read an article in the Daily Tidings about Volkart’s impending departure. That article, published Feb. 13, included what some considered inflammatory statements about the government.

“I will always wonder, for the rest of my life, what it would have been like to serve the Berber community in Morocco,” Volkart said.

Volkart is asking the Peace Corps for an explanation. The agency has offered Volkart alternative assignments in the Pacific Islands, but not a rationale for why he can’t serve in Morocco.

“Had I said I’m going because I love George W. and wanted to spread the gospel, I wonder if it would have even raised a blip on their radar,” Volkart said.

Of course, that wasn’t what he said.

Volkart said his decision to join the Peace Corps was in “response to our current fascist government.”

The article somehow made its way to the Peace Corps administration. Joye Wagner, Volkart’s placement officer, informed him “some people above me, they’re thinking about pulling you because they felt criticized,” Volkart recalled.

Wagner and other Peace Corps officials did not return phone calls seeking comment. Barbara Daly, the agency’s press director, refused to discuss Volkart’s situation because of privacy concerns.

“The whole point of the Peace Corps in some areas is to show the good side of the U.S.,” said one volunteer who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He noted the job takes a lot of maturity and cultural understanding. “You’re not going into a country because you hate this country.”

E-mail communication between the organization and Volkart included the Peace Corps policies on political expression, contact with media representatives and publication of articles. Peace Corps officials did not cite the specific elements of the article that sparked the cancellation; however, an e-mail from Don Peterson, the Chief of Operations for the Europe, Mediterranean, Asia Region, stated “Peace Corps has rescinded its invitation ... for programmatic and foreign policy concerns.”

Also, a side note in the organization’s handbook, which is given to volunteers in the weeks leading up to their departures, advises them on public statements.

“As a volunteer, you are free to discuss your role in the Peace Corps with the press, but there are responsibilities that attend that freedom,” the cautionary remark reads. “An ill-considered statement could be used to embarrass you, the Peace Corps, the U.S. or the host country in which you serve.”

On hold

Saturday night at the Siskiyou Brew Pub was supposed to be a going away party for Volkart. Instead, for a $1 donation to the Civil Liberties Defense Center, Volkart offered friends and supporters a piece of his mind. He handed out quotes — some his own, some borrowed from others — and marking hands with a red, felt-tipped pen. The red marks gave the 30-strong group at his “In Defense of Civil Liberties” party access to discounted drinks; the quotes point to Volkart’s frustration with his current situation.

A George Orwell quote that Volkart tapes to a wood pillar speaks to it: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”

Political statements aside, Volkart wishes he was leaving as planned.

In the first 11 weeks of his three-month training, he would have learned Arabic, the Berber language dialects of Tashelhit and Tamazight, and cross-cultural communication skills.

Environmental volunteers in the Peace Corps serve in Morocco’s National Parks and ecological reserves. They have worked to enhance eco-tourism and environmental awareness. Volkart cited his degree from the University of Montana in resource conservation, his experience with the Forest Service monitoring soil compaction and his coordination of Headwaters’ conservation efforts as experiences that would have served him well.

Volkart had hoped his community forestry position would locate him in the Atlas Mountains. He would have returned to Ashland in 2008.

But now he waits.

“It’s been a roller coaster,” said Volkart, who works as a painter and carpenter. “Ten days before I leave. I sold my work vehicle. I made arrangements to move my cat ... I did move my cat.”

Freedom of speech?

On Saturday night, friends pointed out the irony that Volkart was pulled for making an anti-Bush statement.

“That’s part of being an American, being able to express yourself,” said Dea Collins, Volkart’s neighbor before he packed or sold everything in preparation for his planned departure.

Representatives from the Civil Liberties Defense Center agreed.

“I’m calling him ‘the latest victim in the repressive Bush administration attack on dissent,’” said Lauren C. Regan, the center’s executive director.

The Eugene-based nonprofit organization of practicing public-interest attorneys and organizers focused on defending the civil rights of citizens was in Ashland over the weekend to present its program “Grand Jury Roadshow” at the Ashland Public Library. Volkart’s plight caught the organization’s attention. Regan, who knows Volkart through his forest activism work, anticipates the center will help him now.

“The fact that they’re basically silencing him ... is kind of our connection right now,” Regan said.

Volkart says he will not make a decision on any of the positions he’s been offered in the Pacific Islands until Peace Corps officials have answered his questions about the canceled assignment. He has contacted an attorney to file a freedom of information request seeking all written correspondence concerning the decision to remove him from his assignment.

“I feel it’s challenging to accept a placement until I get an adequate explanation,” he said.

So he waits.

Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 225 or jsquires@dailytidings.com.