U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Receives Honorary Degree from LMU

MARIN DEL REY, CA - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Loyola Marymount University on Wednesday.

Ban, a former diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told students and staff in the auditorium of the university's Life Sciences Building about his childhood as a refugee, and how he saw the United Nations as a sign of hope for Korea.

He also urged students to do what they can to serve others.

"Whatever profession you may choose, do something good for others," he said. "Let us reach out to the vulnerable and the excluded people. Let us fulfill our duty as a global citizen to leave no one behind."

According to LMU, Ban was honored "for his humanitarian accomplishments; exceptional dedication to the United Nations, his country and the citizens of the world; and his integrity, life and work as an embodiment of the promotion of justice and service to others."

"During Ban's tenure, which began in January 2007, the United Nations has advanced major initiatives on climate change, violence against women and the Ebola crisis," according to LMU.

The event was co-sponsored by the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts and Asia Media International at LMU, which is the largest Jesuit, Catholic university in the Southwest, with more than 6,000 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate and law students.

--City News Service, photo courtesy of LMU