In the early hours of Oct. 14, 1960, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy delivered an unscripted campaign speech that helped change the course of American public service. At 2 a.m., Kennedy stopped outside the Michigan Union in Ann Arbor, where an estimated 10,000 students had gathered despite the late hour.

Speaking informally from the steps of the Union, Kennedy began by saying, “I want to express my thanks to you, as a graduate of the Michigan of the East, Harvard University,” which earned cheers from the crowd.

He then asked the students whether they’d be willing to devote a year or two of their lives to serving abroad, helping people in developing nations. He specifically raised the idea of teaching and working in newly independent countries, many of which were struggling to build stable institutions. Kennedy framed this as a moral commitment and a patriotic responsibility.

The speech was improvised and not part of Kennedy’s official campaign remarks, but it resonated with the students’ sense of idealism.

In the days that followed, U-M students mobilized. A group of graduate students, led by Alan and Judy Guskin, began organizing a petition to demonstrate support for Kennedy’s idea. They collected more than 1,000 signatures and drafted proposals for how such a program might work.

The students’ initiative made headlines and caught the attention of Kennedy’s advisers.

Kennedy’s Peace Corps idea continued to evolve in the months after his Ann Arbor speech. On Nov. 2, 1960, just days before the election, Kennedy gave a more formal address in San Francisco, where he outlined the concept of an international service organization in greater detail.

After Kennedy’s election, momentum increased. In his inauguration speech in January 1961, he reinforced the theme of service with his now-famous line: “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” Shortly thereafter, on March 1, 1961, he signed an executive order officially establishing the Peace Corps.

U-M takes pride in its integral role in the Peace Corps’ founding moment, and the late-night gathering at the Union is remembered as the spark that ignited the idea. The International Center at the university has preserved and commemorated this history, and a plaque now marks the site of Kennedy’s speech on the Ann Arbor campus.