Citation for Greg Mortenson
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Listen to Greg Mortenson's Commencement Speech
Greg Mortenson is cofounder of the Central Asia Institute, founder of Pennies for Peace, and coauthor of Three Cups of Tea, which has been at the top of the New York Times bestseller list for more than 115 weeks. While recovering in a small Pakistani village from an attempt to reach the summit of K2, Mortenson discovered his life’s work – promoting education for children, especially girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. He has now established approximately 80 schools in the region serving nearly 30,000 children, including nearly 20,000 girls. He has received several prestigious awards for his work, including the government of Pakistan’s highest civilian honor, the Star of Pakistan.  Greg Mortenson. Mountaineer, nurse, lifesaver, educator, humanitarian, peacemaker, bestselling author. Born in Minnesota, you grew up among African children in Tanzania. You became a citizen of the world, scaled some of its highest mountains, and developed a worldview that transcends political boundaries. After a dangerous expedition in the Himalayas, you were nursed back to health in a small village, and you promised to build a school for children there. In fulfilling that promise, you found your life's mission—educating children, especially girls, in remote and volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. With boundless energy and steely courage, you have built almost 80 schools and changed thousands of lives with the gift of literacy. Leaving the comforts of home and family in Montana, you range remote tracts of Central Asia, sleeping on rice sacks and beneath rotting goatskins. Shia and Sunni clergymen declared fatwas against you because you dared to educate girls; Americans made death threats because you aided young Muslims. But your openness and compassion surmounted these obstacles: Muslim clergymen blessed you in their mosques, you received the Star of Pakistan award, that country’s highest civilian honor, and the Pentagon used Three Cups of Tea as a textbook. Perhaps even more gratifying, girls from your schools now confidently voice their dreams—to continue in school, to educate their own daughters, even to become doctors. The daunting summit of K2 has been replaced in your sights with greater challenges: creating peace through books, combating terror with knowledge, changing the world by educating a girl. You build schools on steep hillsides, and you inspire us to hope that, against equally steep odds, we can achieve peace.By the authority of the Board of Trustees of Colby College, I confer upon you, Greg Mortenson, the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa. The hood with which you have been invested and this diploma which I place in your hand are visible symbols of your membership in this society of scholars, to all the rights and privileges of which I declare you entitled. Conferred May 24, 2009 |