THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY AUGUST 2024 57 AFSA NEWS 100 Years of the Foreign Service at NMAD Do you know the name of the person financing the expedition that led to the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen? Who invented the wireless system of telegraphy? And what general was noted for his defense of Verdun in 1917? If you knew the answers to these questions, you had a good chance of becoming one of America’s first Foreign Service officers following the passage of the Rogers Act 100 years ago. On May 8, in commemoration of the centennial of the modern Foreign Service, the National Museum of American Diplomacy (NMAD) hosted a lecture by historian Dr. Alison Mann. Mann discussed the people behind the act and their motivations for reform. The Foreign Service has its origins in the story of isolationism. Mann cited a variety of elements that prompted its creation: World War I, nativism, the Red Scare, the rise of the Republican party, and U.S. disarmament resulting from the 1921-1922 Washington Conference. An alliance between Wilbur Carr, director of the Consular Service, and John Jacob Rogers, a Massachusetts congressman and WWI veteran, brought the issue of a professional Foreign Service before Congress in 1924. With the Rogers Act of 1924, the U.S. Foreign Service was established as career organization with employment based on merit and competitive examination. More information about the NMAD and future exhibits can be found here: https://bit. ly/3wDa4bA. n The Centennial Rogers Act exhibit at NMAD. AFSA/MARK PARKHOMENKO President Tom Yazdgerdi welcomes new FS cohort at AFSA HQ on May 14. AFSA /MARK PARKHOMENKO AFSA Welcomes New FS Cohort On May 7 and May 14, AFSA welcomed the April 2024 cohort of 230 newly minted Foreign Service professionals to AFSA headquarters. AFSA President Tom Yazdgerdi introduced them to AFSA’s history and advocacy efforts on behalf of the Foreign Service. Close to 40 percent of the class have a previous affiliation with the State Department as direct-hire employees, contractors, interns, or eligible family members. Several members served as Peace Corps volunteers, and more than three-quarters of them have prior U.S. government experience. The class includes five presidential management fellows, seven former consular fellows, and six Civil Service fellows, and more than half have master’s degrees. Specialists comprise 58 percent of the cohort; 27 percent of them are female. In the generalist cohort, 56 percent are female. Class members speak more than 45 languages combined, including all the official United Nations languages and languages spoken in all six geographic bureaus. About half the class speak at least two foreign languages. Many of these new hires joined AFSA during their visit to HQ, and AFSA hopes to welcome the rest to AFSA membership in the coming months. Overall, about 80 percent of active-duty Foreign Service are AFSA members. AFSA wishes those in this new class all the best as they embark on their global journeys! n
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