This story has been updated to add a missing graduation year.
Eastern Mennonite University joins the nation in mourning the late former President Jimmy Carter, who was known for his humility, strong Christian faith, and lifelong dedication to service, peace and human rights.
Carter, president from 1977-81, died on Dec. 29, 2024, at 100. Jan. 9, 2025, has been declared a National Day of Mourning to honor his legacy.
His wife of 77 years, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, spoke at EMU’s (then Eastern Mennonite College) 68th annual Commencement on May 4, 1986.
“Jimmy and I have come to admire and love the Mennonites through our involvement with Habitat for Humanity,” she said during the commencement speech.
It was Donald and Faye Nyce, parents of EMU alumni Ed ’86, Pam ’86 and Doug ’85, who introduced the Carters to the Habitat for Humanity organization, the former First Lady said. Donald and Faye Nyce volunteered at the organization’s headquarters in Americus, Georgia, and attended the Carters’ church in Plains.
“We developed some very close friendships with them… we came to love them very much when they were in our part of the world,” Rosalynn Carter said. “And it was through them that we learned about your [the Mennonites’] tradition of volunteer service.”
A full transcript of her speech can be read here.
In a 1986 article in the Weather Vane, the Nyces described the Carters as strong Christians who were supporters of civil rights “long before a civil rights stand became the popular thing.”
“Jimmy was our Sunday school teacher,” Faye Nyce is quoted in the article. “We were surprised, then delighted and pleased with his knowledge and application of the Bible.”
A little more than two decades later, in 2009, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter received the Global Nonviolence Award from the Mahatma Gandhi Center at James Madison University. Former EMC President Myron Augsburger spoke at a ceremony honoring the Carters, and EMU’s Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir (SVCC) sang at the ceremony.
In a recent Facebook post, Ken J. Nafziger, professor emeritus of EMU Music, shared his memories of meeting Jimmy Carter when the Chamber Singers were invited to sing at his church.
❤️ I feel like growing up Mennonite entitles me to the 6° of separation theory with the Carters. 😉 But more so, family friends visited their church while in Florida, sat in on Jimmy‘s Sunday school class, then met them later. Which would have been more significant…visiting them there or in the Oval Office?
Perhaps you have already checked this out, but I think that Doug Nyce, brother of Ed and Pam is also a EMU grad. He was the Director of Alumni Relations for a number of years. If, in fact, he is a EMU grad, please publish a correction. Thanks. Dave
What a great tribute to EMU. And how great that many could retell stories of the ways in which the Carters shined light on the school and all who were connected to it. What a great article that points out how lucky the Carters were to have known and interacted with Mennonites from EMU. We should be very proud of ourselves and what the Carters thought us. I hope many read this article and remember it’s main emphasis, which is how great EMU is. Just beautiful!
It was Darlene and my great honor to meet Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter with other Mennonites, missionaries and leaders of the Nepali churches. Jimmy promised to speak to King Birenda about persecution of Christians in his country of Nepal.