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News Archive 2005-06 NO. 13
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Former Polish president to speak, receive 1982 degree
by Christina Lundy
lundychr@shu.edu
Staff Writer |
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Today, the Polish flag can be seen flying outside McQuaid Hall.
Lech Walesa, former president of Poland and Nobel Prize winner, will address students, faculty and other guests at 4 p.m. in the Walsh Gymnasium as a part of the World Leaders Forum.
Walesa helped to create the Solidarity labor union that, according to the Rev. Paul Holmes, vice president and interim dean of the School of Diplomacy, led to the eventual end of the Cold War and the elimination of communist rule in Eastern Europe.
“This is an opportunity to listen to someone who really changed the world we live in,” he said.
Walesa was granted an honorary Seton Hall degree in 1982 for his achievements. He was unable to leave Poland at the time in order to receive the honor in person.
“Our plans are to finally have the chair of regents and the president present the degree that was given in absencea 23 years ago,” Holmes said.
Walesa went on to win the Nobel Prize in 1983 for his efforts with Solidarity.
“I want students to know that this is what you can do with a Seton Hall degree,” Holmes said, “go on to win the Nobel Prize a year later.”
Holmes sent personal letters to all 17 Polish-Catholic parishes in the Archdiocese of Newark to alert them about the former president’s visit.
“If the Polish people have two heroes, one was Pope John Paul II, and the other is Lech Walesa,” he said.
Andreea Florescu, graduate assistant of the dean of undergraduate students, said the entire School of Diplomacy is anticipating this event.
She said students are taking on ambassadorial roles for the day by welcoming guests and assisting with different parts of Walesa’s visit.
As is the tradition when important figures come to the university, some students will receive the opportunity to meet Walesa after the lecture in a round-table discussion and for dinner.
According to Holmes, professors made recommendations about which of their students should be granted this privilege.
They are chosen based on the courses they have taken so far and on their capability to ask and understand questions.
Guests brought to Seton Hall through the World Leaders Forum offer inspiration for students.
According to Florescu, guests the Whitehead School of Diplomacy brings to Seton Hall provide her with encouragement with their histories. She was able to meet both Shimon Peres, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Prime Minister of Israel, and Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet Union president and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
“Past addresses by world leaders have reminded me about the ideals that have brought me to the Whitehead School and that I need to follow after I graduate,” she said. “And I trust Walesa’s words will do the same.”
Florescu said she was aware of who Lech Walesa was from a young age as a Romanian witnessing her country’s transition to democracy.
“He represented a bright, hopeful example of how individuals animated by strong ideals could effect meaningful change at such a high level,” she said. “The Solidarity’s long-lasting resistance to communism and its ultimate success encouraged the Romanians in their own struggle with dictatorship.”
Walesa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for his work in the Solidarity movement. He was elected President of the Republic of Poland in 1990 by general ballot, and he served in the position until November 1995.
He has received other honors, including honorary degrees from Harvard University and the University of Paris. He has also recieved the Medal of Freedom, the Award of Free World and the European Award of Human Rights.
He was nominated one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Important People of the Century.
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