Nearly forty years ago, Carter inspired Bulldogs during speech at Wingate

by Chuck Gordon

As Jimmy Carter was laid to rest today in a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral, members of the Wingate University community remembered their interactions with the former president during his visit to campus nearly 40 years ago.

Carter was invited to speak to the campus community by former Wingate president Dr. Paul Corts. On Feb. 5, 1985, he addressed members of the media before being honored at a dinner of lobster and filet mignon in Eaton Hall (in the space now occupied by Starbucks). The main event was a speech by Carter in a packed Sanders-Sikes Gymnasium in the evening, followed by a reception back in Eaton Hall.

The speech was standing room only. "I'd never seen Sanders-Sikes that full since the basketball game against Gardner-Webb and Artis Gilmore (in 1969)," says David Sherwood, assistant athletic director for public relations and student-athlete recognition.

Sherwood's late father, Harry, was the director of college relations at the time and spent most of the day with Carter, and the younger Sherwood got to meet the former president briefly.

"Dad was very honored and humbled to participate in the way that he did," Sherwood says. "I just thought President Carter was incredibly gracious, very free with his time and his energy."

That matches the recollections of Beverly Christopher and Louise Napier, former longtime faculty members who were in charge of preparing Eaton Hall for the reception. They missed Carter's speech in Sanders-Sikes in order to get ready for the reception, but they did get to spend a few minutes with him afterward, before he was driven back to Monroe Airport for the flight back to Plains, Ga.

"He was so present, so willing to speak to people," Christopher says. "That's just who he was, that kind of person."

Saying that Carter had "no airs about him," Napier reminisced about Carter's stopping to talk to her daughter, Kirsten, who was 12 at the time.

"That was very touching, that he would take time to speak to her individually and shake her hand, when all these other dignitaries were around wanting to speak to him," Napier says. "That made a big impression on her, and she later named her son Carter."

According to the Wingate University yearbook, The Gate, after Carter's speech Corts presented him with a hammer made in Union County and with a Wingate letter jacket, which he slipped on.

Carter, who served one term as president after being elected in 1976, died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. His funeral lasted six days, with all former presidents and other dignitaries gathering in the Cathedral for a final farewell today. Among those making the day memorable was Safiatou Souaré '22, a graduate of Wingate's music program who is now a choral member of the U.S. Army's Pershing's Own band, which performed during the service.

Legacy of service

Other Wingate graduates crossed paths with Carter after his presidency. One of the most notable is Chris Odom Ringuette '90, who worked for Habitat for Humanity for 15 years, including three years as senior director of global engagement for the organization's international arm.

Carter famously spent countless hours of his postpresidential life building houses for Habitat, including several in the Mekong Delta when he was 85. Ringuette was there to raise money for Habitat and remembers hearing Carter, while giving a speech to dignitaries in Vietnam, raise topics he had been told not to discuss, namely human rights.

"He did what was right no matter what consequences that may bring," Ringuette says. "He just turned it into this beautiful speech about how all people deserve decent housing. He said it in an eloquent way that left everybody moved."

Ringuette says that Carter was as advertised: "The most down-to-earth, kind, humble individual. He was so humble. He always carried his own luggage."

He also worked tirelessly on his postpresidency projects, whether supplying mosquito nets and eradicating guinea worm or building houses for those with no place to live.

"Never did you look over at the house Carter was working on and see him not building, ever," Ringuette says. "I never saw him take a full hour for lunch."

Even into his 90s, Carter was still hammering nails for Habitat.

"He's the closest thing to a saint I've ever met," Ringuette says.

Jan. 9, 2025

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