EMU remembers legacy of Jimmy Carter

Ryan Cornell — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 17:36:32 +0000

This story has been updated to add a missing graduation year.

��ݮ�� 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 .

In a 1986 , 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.”

For former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, the visit to Eastern Mennonite College in 1986 was a time to renew acquaintance with the Donald and Faye Nyce family. Two of the Nyce children, Pam and Ed, were members of the EMC class of 1986, while Doug graduated in 1985. The friendship between the former president and first lady and Donald and Faye Nyce began during a volunteer service assignment in Americus, Georgia. From left: Pam, Don, Faye and Ed Nyce, Carter, Doug Nyce and his wife, Dawn Mumaw Nyce.

Former EMC President Myron Augsburger spoke at a ceremony honoring former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter on Sept. 21, 2009. (Photo courtesy of JMU)

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.

The Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir, a program of EMU, sings for Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter at James Madison University in 2009. (Photo courtesy of JMU)

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.

Donald Nyce Archives - EMU News

EMU remembers legacy of Jimmy Carter