Georgia College to host screening of 'The President and the Dragon' and panel discussion with The Carter Center

The Institute for Leadership and the Public Good at Georgia College & State University will host a special screening of "The President and the Dragon," a powerful new documentary chronicling former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s decades-long fight to eradicate Guinea worm disease.

The Oct. 27 screening will be followed by a panel discussion hosted by The Carter Center, offering attendees an opportunity to learn more about the film and the decades of work to bring Guinea worm disease to the brink of eradication.

From 1986 until his death in December 2024, President Carter championed the global effort to eradicate Guinea worm disease. The President and the Dragon, directed by Waleed Eltayeb and Ian D. Murphy, tells the story of President Carter and the public health professionals, local volunteers and ex-child soldiers who worked across some of the world's most challenging environments to combat the disease.

When President Carter and The Carter Center began the campaign in 1986, approximately 3.5 million cases of Guinea worm disease were reported annually. Today, only a handful of cases remain, bringing the disease closer to becoming only the second human disease ever eradicated, following smallpox.

The event is presented by the Institute for Leadership and the Public Good at Georgia College & State University in partnership with The Carter Center.

“The film is a case study in a rare kind of leadership: sustained, unglamorous, and driven by public good rather than public office,” says Dr. Harold Mock, executive director of the Institute for Leadership and the Public Good. “Carter's campaign offers a model of what committed leadership can accomplish over decades, even against a problem the world had written off as unsolvable.”

Community members are invited to attend the film screening and panel discussion on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 5:30 p.m. in the Magnolia Ballroom at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia. Guests are asked to register in advance here.

Event Information

What: Film screening of "The President and the Dragon"
When: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026
Where: 5:30 p.m.
Admission: Free and open to the public - registration required
Registration: Register Here

Contact: Institute for Leadership and the Public Good, leadership.programs@gcsu.edu

About Guinea Worm Disease

Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis) is a parasitic infection contracted when people consume water from stagnant sources contaminated with Guinea worm larvae. The disease can cause severe pain and disability and can prevent people from working, attending school, and caring for themselves and their families.

Through education, community engagement, and other interventions, The Carter Center and its partners have reduced Guinea worm cases by more than 99.99% since the Center joined the global eradication effort. With only a small number of cases remaining, Guinea worm disease is poised to become the second human disease ever eradicated and the first eradicated without the use of vaccines or medicine.

About The Carter Center

Over 40 years, The Carter Center has worked in more than 90 countries to resolve conflicts, advance democracy, protect human rights, prevent disease, and improve mental health and support for caregivers.

In ways large and small, The Carter Center strives to wage peace, fight disease, and build hope across the globe and here at home. And with each step forward, they help create the more peaceful and healthy world that President and Mrs. Carter imagined.

About the Institute for Leadership and the Public Good

The Institute for Leadership and the Public Good provides teaching, research, and public service related to leadership, citizenship, democracy, and public affairs. With the support of a distinguished faculty and practitioners, we educate the next generation of Georgia’s leaders for the public good. Our programs bring together scholars and students, as well as business leaders, non-profit executives, journalists, and public officials, and offer a trusted forum on citizen-leadership and pressing issues of the day.