The book (pictured at right) about American mountaineer Greg Mortenson’s quest to build a school in the Pakistani village that nursed him back to health is the freshman reading selection for 2008.

Tammy Haskett, orientation programs director and freshman reading program committee chair, said the story contains strong examples of community building and service, and Haskett said she hoped members of the Western North Carolina community and area book clubs would join students on the pages of “Three Cups of Tea” and in-person at Freshman Convocation this fall. A guest speaker at convocation will reflect on the book. Event details and the name of the speaker will be released this summer.

The book’s first chapter takes readers to Mortenson’s failed attempt to climb to the peak of K2 in 1993. An exhausted and disoriented Mortenson then drifted into a Pakistani village. As he recovered, he noticed the village’s children writing school lessons in the dirt with sticks. He promised to return to build them a school.

Fundraising was slow when he sold everything he owned, raising $2,000, but picked up after elementary school children in Wisconsin donated $623 in pennies to the cause. Their generosity inspired support from others. Twelve years later, Mortenson has built more than 50 schools in Central Asian villages, co-founded the Central Asia Institute and combated terrorism “with books, not bombs,” according to the “Three Cups of Tea” Web site.

WCU student Mandi LaMartiniere said reading “Three Cups of Tea” reminded her that one person – with enough will – can move mountains.

“In a time where we sometimes feel that we can’t do anything to help, this book proves that we can,” said LaMartiniere, a junior biology major from Fayetteville and a member of the university committee that selected the book.

Books are selected based on criteria including appeal to recent high school graduates, relevance to Western, diversity and effectiveness as a teaching tool. Selections in the program’s 10 years include “Teacher Man,” by Frank McCourt; “Interpreter of Maladies” by Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian author Jhumpa Lahir; and “In Mind In Country: From Mount Kenya to Tenewi Island,” a journal by then-WCU student Worth Allen. Two were authored by Ron Rash, award-winning writer and WCU’s Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture, “The World Made Straight” and “One Foot in Eden.”

Haskett said “Three Cups of Tea” fits in with the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP, which is built on the concept of educational synthesis – helping students connect their academic and co-curricular experiences in order to better reach their goals after graduation. Haskett said the book also relates to the goals of UNC Tomorrow, a University of North Carolina system review designed to improve focus on serving the people of the state through teaching, research and scholarship, and public service.

For more information, contact Haskett at (828) 227-7087 or haskett@wcu.edu.

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Last Modified: Monday, April 21, 2008