"Three Cups of Tea," coauthored by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, follows Mortenson's evolution from mountain climber to humanitarian.
"This book illustrates the power of one individual to change the lives of many," said Chancellor Kenneth E. Peacock in announcing the selection. "This book will surely inspire all who read it."
The book will be read by all incoming freshmen at Appalachian as part of the university's First Year Seminar Program. Mortenson will speak to members of the campus community and others during Convocation Sept. 10 in the Holmes Center.
Emory Maiden said "Three Cups of Tea" impressed the university's Summer Reading Committee with both its message and straight-forward style. Maiden, a professor in the Department of English, chairs the committee.
"Mortenson's book is a story of transformation: His apparently simple promise to help one family and their neighbors gives his life a new and fulfilling direction. Similarly, those who respond to his offer of hope, especially young women who flock to the schools, embrace the changes new knowledge brings," Maiden said. "We thought his story, in its assertion of the power of one person and of education as an agency for peace, would be a valuable source for discussion among our first-year students, our university colleagues and for the rest of our regional community as well."
As of 2008, Mortenson had established more than 75 schools in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide education to more than 28,000 children, including 18,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before.
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