The world is mourning the loss of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, including members of the Queen’s community who are fondly recalling the president’s special connection to the university.
In November 2012, the 39th president of the United States and his wife, Rosalynn, came to Queen’s to receive honorary degrees in recognition of their decades of humanitarian work.
Among the couples’ many volunteer efforts, they are well known for their work with Habitat for Humanity, a charity that helps build homes for people in need. It was something the former president reflected on during his speech to several hundred graduates who had gathered in Grant Hall for convocation.
He encouraged the new Queen’s grads to help others in need. “Our [status] puts an obligation on all of us ... to reach out if you’re rich, and well educated and safe to those that are not,” he told the crowd.
After his presidency ended, Carter launched the Carter Center, a global non-governmental organization focused on resolving conflict, advancing democracy and human rights, and preventing diseases.
His lifetime of public service culminated with one of the world’s highest honours, the Nobel Peace Prize, which he was awarded in 2002. The Nobel committee cited “his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.
