The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is launching a Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity. Edwards will be its director.
The Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity will be a nonpartisan initiative, bringing together UNC faculty and other national public policy experts to examine innovative and practical ideas for moving more Americans out of poverty and into the middle class, according to a UNC news release. The center is to have an advisory committee composed of senior faculty members who represent a number of disciplines across the university. Edwards also will serve as a guest lecturer on campus in addition to leading the center.
“John Edwards is a distinguished Carolina alumnus, and we are delighted that he will return to campus to bring together today's best minds to focus on issues that affect us all,” Chancellor James Moeser said.
Edwards said he was proud to be joining UNC to launch the center.
“The time I spent at Chapel Hill gave me many of the tools I have used all my life to help those who are struggling, and I am so proud that I will be able to continue this work and also give something back to UNC,” Edwards said. “As director of the center, I will work to explore creative approaches to the difficulties that families in poverty face every day.”
“The fact that millions in this country go to work every day and still live in poverty is wrong and unacceptable. This is personal to me, and I believe that it is one of the most important moral issues of our time. Together with UNC, I will work hands-on to explore creative approaches to the difficulties that families in poverty face every day. We may not have all the answers right now, but I can promise you this: We will be asking the hard questions. We will work tirelessly so that America's bright light of opportunity shines on all of us.
“It is my intention not just to talk about solutions, but to work across the country to test ideas and promote successful strategies. I hope you and I will have the opportunity to work together again to restore the promise of America in our workplaces and dignity in the lives of Americans who just want a chance to earn a decent living for themselves and their family. I grew up with these people, and their cause will always be my cause.”
At UNC, Edwards will be designated a university professor and hold an alumni distinguished professorship, which is funded by private gifts to the University.
“John Edwards will be a marvelous resource for faculty and students across campus,” said Law School Dean Gene Nichol. “His life experiences as well as his time as senator and vice presidential candidate make him ideally suited to lead this new center.”
Edwards’ New Hampshire speech this weekend was to focus on poverty, opportunity and jobs, said Kim Rubey, a press representative for Edwards, in a telephone interview.
During his six years in the U.S. Senate, Edwards championed policy changes like raising the minimum wage, expanding earned income tax credits, creating matching savings accounts for low-income families, and providing incentives for teachers to teach in low-income schools.
John and Elizabeth Edwards both graduated from the UNC School of Law in 1977. His wife had earned her bachelor's degree in English from UNC in 1971. She has served on the University's Board of Visitors since 2001. The Edwards family plans to move to Chapel Hill this spring.
Edwards said in an e-mail to his supporters announcing his new job that Elizabeth, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, is doing “incredibly well.”
“She is almost finished with her chemotherapy treatment, and her doctors are extremely encouraged by how well it is going,” he said. “Throughout this entire process, she has been as strong as she was the day I first met her, and there is no doubt in my mind that she will beat this cancer.”
