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Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Speaks at Convocation Record numbers of students, faculty, staff and community members gathered at the Holmes Convocation Center on Thursday, September 10 to hear New York Times best-selling author and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Greg Mortenson. Mortenson spoke first of his failure – he was a mountain climber attempting to scale Pakistan’s K-2 who never made it to the summit. Sick and disoriented, he stumbled into Korphe, a small village at the base of the mountain, where local citizens nursed him back to health. As he recovered, he noticed the school children doing their lessons in the dirt and vowed to build them a school. It is a promise others might have shrugged off easily, but not Mortenson. His story – of being kidnapped, of being reduced to living in his car, of being dumped by his girlfriend and losing his sister and his father to illness, might have weakened the resolve of a lesser man. Mortenson, however, persevered and to date, through his non-profit Central Asia Institute, has built over 100 schools in the dangerous Pakistan/Afghanistan region. He recounted his exploits in Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time which has been on the New York Times bestseller list for an astounding 153 weeks. You can read more about Mortenson’s amazing journey at www.summerreading.appstate.edu or www.gregmortenson.com. Greg Mortenson’s influence will continue to be felt throughout the fall semester as student organizations reach out to help build a school through the Pennies for Peace program. ASU students will collect their change in hopes of raising the $12,000 necessary to build a new school in the region. In addition, in mid-September, Susan Roth, illustrator of the beautiful children’s version of the book, Listen to the Wind, will be on campus to offer art workshops for students. This year’s Summer Reading Program will continue to inspire students as we move throughout the academic year. |
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