Father Hesburgh, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is with a sense of the deposit obligation that I accept this award of the Laetare Medal.
This is an honor that has graced the names of some of the most distinguished men in our diplomacy and in our history. That it should now come to me is a tribute I can only accept with great humility.
Father Hesburgh, in his most goners citation, mentioned my service as Director of the Peace Corps and later as Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. In this connection he mentioned my Christian faith, which the University of Notre Dame, I would like to say, has done so much to glorify and propagate.
We have learned to respect many other faiths in our work, and certainly I have in my experience. Nevertheless, it is surely the work and example of our Lord Jesus Christ which lies behind much of the inspiration of our American heritage.
For if the twentieth country has tight its children anything, it is that selflessness and charity are the only listing values in human life.
Since the name of this medal is in Latin and since the inscription is in Latin, I venture to add another Latin motto I have always cherished -- “Non Nobis Sed Aliis” -- not for ourselves but for Others.
This could well serve as devices for both organizations with which I served. It could well serve too as a rule of life for all of us. Thank you again, Father Hesburgh, on behalf of my wife and all my family for this extraordinary honor, and for coming to France, with which, as you have painted out, Notre Dame has so many historic and spiritual associations, to bestow it on me.
