A Message of Gratitude for Senator Patrick Leahy
Announcement Date: November 15, 2021
By Carol Jenkins, President and CEO, World Learning, Inc., and Dr. Sophia Howlett, President, School for International Training
On behalf of World Learning and School for International Training, we would like to thank U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy for nearly a half century of distinguished service to Vermont, the nation, and the world.
Senator Leahy is the embodiment of the values that we seek to instill in our students and program participants—a true changemaker whose life and career are an inspiration to us all. During eight terms in the U.S. Senate, and before that as a state’s attorney, he has held fast to his convictions, and those of his Vermont constituents, with empathy and commonsense solutions.
Our state, our nation, and the world are better thanks to Senator Leahy’s unyielding advocacy for civil and human rights including protection for women, children, and the LGBTQI+ community; his unshakeable commitment to education; his vigilance in safeguarding our land, food systems, and natural resources; and his global leadership as a peacemaker.
As a 20-year member of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines/Cluster Munition Coalition and administrator of USAID’s Special Program to Address the Needs of Survivors, World Learning salutes the Senator’s career-spanning quest to ban the use and export of mines, his support for victims of violence and war, and his tireless advocacy for citizen diplomacy and people-to-people exchanges. For these and other outstanding accomplishments, we were proud to award Senator Leahy our 2012 Distinguished Global Citizen Achievement Award.
Announcing today that he would not seek re-election to a ninth term, the nation’s longest-serving senator said, “It is time to pass the torch to the next Vermonter who will carry on this work for our great state. It’s time to come home.”
We have been honored to call Patrick Leahy our Senator. We wish him and Marcelle health and happiness during the next chapter of their remarkable lives, and we welcome them home to a state made stronger and more resilient thanks to their extraordinary public service.