Between the parades, races or the storming of the field, you can quite literally be swept away by the buzz of Homecoming on campus. While it may be easy to get caught in the hustle and bustle, there is more to Homecoming than unique traditions or chances to reconnect with old friends. Homecoming presents an opportunity for reflection — a time to look back on the Institute’s 139-year-old history and remind ourselves of the values our community holds dear. Above all else is our calling towards progress and service. A commitment that we learn not only for ourselves, but to improve the lives of those around us. A life committed to progress and service is undoubtedly a worthy aspiration, yet it can seem daunting or even unattainable to live up to such grandiose notions. When a road seems arduous, looking to those who have traveled that same path is a step in the right direction. When one thinks of someone who personifies the values of progress and service, one need look no further than Institute Alumni and former President Jimmy Carter.
Mr. Carter’s journey from peanut farmer to President is a remarkable example of humility, grace, and, above all else, service. Mr. Carter, a native of Plains, Georgia, attended Tech in 1942 and later received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. After graduation, Mr. Carter went on to serve as an officer in the Navy, spending his time as a submariner and eventually attaining the rank of lieutenant. Mr. Carter left the Navy in 1953 after the death of his father to return home and support his family’s peanut farm. Herein lies the first lesson one can take from Mr. Carter: service requires sacrifice. After the loss of his father, he sacrificed his personal naval career to support his mother and family. However, just because he resigned from his career in military service did not mean that Mr. Carter’s service was over. As a farmer and businessman, Mr. Carter continued to serve his community, sitting on school and library councils. In 1962, Mr. Carter became a State Senator, and in 1971, he became Georgia’s 76th Governor.
The rest is, as they say, history. Mr. Carter received the Democratic nomination for President and was sworn into office after victory over President Gerald Ford on January 20th, 1977. As President, Mr. Carter worked to create the Department of Energy, negotiated peace between Egypt and Israel, established diplomatic relations with China and championed human rights. Mr. Carter’s leadership during his presidency prioritized the people. President Carter took the same folksy and community-oriented approach from Plains, Georgia to Washington and with it came a humility and earnest desire to help people that really hasn’t been seen in Washington since. Despite his achievements, “tumultuous: aptly describes the end of Mr. Carter’s presidency. Mr. Carter’s final year in the White House became marred by varying crises, including the Iranian hostage crisis, the three-mile island nuclear meltdown, the Nicaraguan revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Although these incidents were arguably out of Mr. Carter’s control, they significantly contributed to his 1980 election loss and the dawn of the Regan era.
While Mr. Carter garnered significant achievement during his presidency, the true measure of his character is not his time in the Oval Office, but his time after. In his loss to President Reagan, Jimmy Carter teaches us another lesson: grace. Not only grace in defeat but also grace in every action thereafter. Defeat can make you bitter or jaded, yet Mr. Carter remained true to himself. Throughout Mr. Carter’s entire life, he has worked to serve others. So, after he left the presidency, he established the Carter Center, a non-partisan, non-profit group that strives to solve international and domestic policy issues. The Carter Center has played a key role in conflict mediation in countries around the globe, including Bosnia, Ethiopia, Sudan and most recently Mali. The Center also advocates for election security and currently observes elections in 114 countries. This work won Mr. Carter the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Notably, Mr. Carter’s work is not isolated to just grand actions that achieve grand awards. Mr. Carter and his late wife, Rosalynn Carter, were known to spend a week each year volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, and Mr. Carter regularly taught every Sunday at his local church in Plains, Georgia.
In the end, Mr. Carter’s life embodies the very ideals Georgia Tech celebrates: commitment to service, resilience in the face of adversity, and an unwavering dedication to community. His journey, from student to President and ultimately as a Nobel Peace Prize-winning humanitarian, serves as a guiding example of how we can uphold and advance our values beyond the walls of the classroom. Homecoming invites us to honor these values and recognize that the path to progress and service is open to all, no matter where our journeys begin. As we reflect on Tech’s history and legacy, we are reminded that each of us has the opportunity — and perhaps the imperative — to carry forward the spirit of service exemplified by alumni like Mr. Carter, aspiring to make a difference both within and far beyond our campus community.