Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday: Remembering his Lafayette visit

Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, delivered Lafayette’s inaugural Robert ’69 and Margaret Pastor Lecture in International Affairs April 22, 2013 on the Quad. Robert Pastor introduced Carter prior to the lecture.

By Bryan Hay 

Angelika von Wahl will never forget how Jimmy Carter energized Lafayette College during his April 2013 visit to inaugurate the Robert ’69 and Margaret Pastor Lecture Series.

Carter, who marked his 100th birthday in his home in Plains, Ga., on Oct. 1, is the 39th and longest-living president in American history. On that April day at Lafayette, he spoke from a platform on the Quad, an unusual setup for Lafayette, which typically hosts its high-profile lecturers in places such as Colton Chapel or Kirby Hall of Civil Rights.

“I remember walking out of the library and saying to some students, what are you doing here? You have to come out on the Quad. President Carter is speaking,” recalls von Wahl, John L. ’67 and Jean A. Hatfield Professor of International Affairs and program chair.

“And they were stunned as they were making their way out to the Quad. The sense of excitement just began to grow,” she says.

Joining Carter on the dais was Robert Pastor ’69 (1947-2014), for whom the lecture series was named. He served the Carter administration as security adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean, and worked to ratify the 1977 Panama Canal treaties.

Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, delivered Lafayette’s inaugural Robert ’69 and Margaret Pastor Lecture in International Affairs April 22, 2013 on the Quad. Robert Pastor introduced Carter prior to the lecture.

“That was interesting, because on the stage was Carter but also Robert Pastor, both together again,” von Wahl says, recalling how Pastor’s thoughts on human rights harmonized with Carter’s address, “Reflections on Human Rights and Democracy,” which focused on closing the government’s Guantanamo Bay detention facility (a highly debated topic 10 years ago), the problems associated with climate change, the importance of protecting the environment, and the state of American democracy.

“He presented the kinds of issues that the students were interested in. What I was impressed with was the fact that he did not try to paint this perfect picture but discussed how democracy is always a struggle and an attempt to get somewhere,” she recalls. 

Von Wahl remembers being impressed by how Carter’s words demonstrated his devotion and service to the country and emphasized the work that must be done to close the gap between idealism and reality.

Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, delivered Lafayette’s inaugural Robert ’69 and Margaret Pastor Lecture in International Affairs April 22, 2013 on the Quad.

“I thought, he loves this country but he is also able to seriously critique it and challenge it to do better,” she remembers thinking as Carter spoke. “That’s pretty rare for politicians.”

Von Wahl says she was moved by Carter’s more intimate interactions with students during a dinner at the president’s house before the lecture. “The students sat around him and talked to him. And they were, of course, over the moon,” she says. 

Carter’s visit and the lecture series he launched have meant a great deal to the enhancement of Lafayette’s intellectual culture, von Wahl says. 

“It’s very prestigious, and when we ask speakers to come, we say, you know, the inaugural speaker was President Carter and that opens doors,” she says, noting how the series has brought respected political scientists, diplomats, and writers to Lafayette.

Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Laurie Garrett delivered the Pastor lecture in 2021, and Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, former president of the United Nations General Assembly, delivered last year’s lecture. 

Prof. Angelika von Wahl meets President Carter

“It has had a tremendously positive effect on the International Affairs program that we can have this series for our students who get to meet these leading authors and thinkers and have conversations with them,” says von Wahl, who thanks the Pastor family for helping make the necessary connections to bring these prominent guests to Lafayette. “Also, the series is open to the public, so we welcome the community to attend as well. There have been so many beneficial developments from this series.”

Learn more about the Robert ’69 and Margaret Pastor Lecture Series.