Jimmy Carter to visit UC Irvine, talk with students

Former President Jimmy Carter will visit UC Irvine on Thursday, May 3, to discuss the Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestine and answer questions from students.

“We are honored to host President Carter, who has provided such distinguished service to our nation and to the world,” said William R. Schonfeld, director of the Center for the Study of Democracy. “This is a rare and exciting opportunity for our students to hear directly from a former President of the United States about issues of great concern.”

Carter’s address to UCI students, faculty, staff and alumni will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the UCI Bren Events Center. Students are encouraged to submit questions online before the event and a panel of students and faculty will select representative queries to ask Carter during the program.

Carter is lauded for his work to forge the groundbreaking Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel in 1979. In his recent book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, he revisited Middle East issues and generated discussions across the country with a title that he acknowledges is provocative. His talk at UCI will focus on the current conflict in the Middle East.

For decades, the Carter Center has worked to promote democracy, mediate conflict and improve global health through the eradication of diseases including Guinea worm disease and malaria. In 2002, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his “effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”

Members of the UCI community may obtain ticket information at www.socsci.uci.edu/events/carter. Plans are being made to webcast the event live at that site for members of the public.

This event is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Democracy and the student-led Model United Nations in association with the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding and the Department of Political Science.