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“AA4 The Salt Lake Tribune OPINION Sunday, June 20, 1999 In the US., Honorary.Degrees Represent How Far Values Have Fallen BY HERBERT LONDO! celebrity status over scholarly FOR THE BRISGE NEWS NEW YORK — "Tis the season for college graduates, that time when commencements occur, speechesare delivered and honorary degrees conferred. Arthur Levine, president of Teachers College at Columbia University, says honorary degrees “are used to reward donors who have given money. Sometimes they are used to draw celebrities to make the graduation special.” achievement. Also, if there is a choice betweenliberal and con- servative, go with theliberal. Surelythis is a perfectly accurate depictionof universitylife. In the last 30 yearsaffirmative action sentiment has become ensconced in the thinking of higher educa: tion officials, notwithstandingthe Supreme Court's Hopwood vs. Texasdecision, which repudiated affirmative action as a principle. Obscure names who engage in serious research are routinely ig- Healso notes the use of honor- nored. Bill Cosby doesn’t even ary degreesas the “last lesson a college can teach, by showing examples of people who most repre- know how many honorary degrees he has received. He adds glitter to the graduation experience for students and parents, and sent the values the institution standsfor.” Alas, heis correct. In ways that Levine does not recognize, the selection of honorary degree recipi- ents by universities offers profound evidence of what those in“stitutions have become. In the celebrity category are wealthy people who presumably are, or could become,contributors to the university. Georgia State University, for example, honored J. Mack Robin- son, who gave $10 million to its college of business. Like wealthy ments this year are singer Judy people who want an ambassadorship, money providescritical leverage in the honorary degree market. Most of the time recipients don't even haveto speak for their honor. Showing up, donning a ents at university commence Collins, actress Geena Davis, mu former boxer MuhammadAli, ician Tito Puente by. Inexamining that line- up, some things stand out: The implicit affirmative action selection process at work and the importance of anti-American, a position that enhanced the fund of human during the commencement knowledge, or else a display of courage, fortitude or integrity. A doesn’t hurt his chance of a degree at the businessof getting honorary degrees. It helps, of course, to have a left-wing pedigree, in large part because universities embody only onepolitical view, now cast as an orthodoxy. season. There is indeed little doubtthat popular singer or a 300 ball Tifetime hitter did notqualify. honorary degrees represent the Nowadays, however, politics, moneyandcelebrity status matter most at American commencements. The university world has changed, and not for the better. values of universities. On the other hand, these degrees are no longer related to the purpose for whichthey were intended. The custom of bestowing them Jules Feiffer, the cartoonist, Sister Helen Prejean,the authorof is centuries old, a custom Ameri- Dead Man Walking and Noam Chomsky, linguistics professor and political pamphleteer, receive their degrees as much for their political views as their accomplishments. cans borrowed from their English forebears. At England’s Oxford University, the ceremonyat which One can only wonder what message today’s graduates actually imbibe from their commencement speakers. Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers, believed uni- enthusiasmsrather than selecting a candidate on scholarly merit. To this day the University of Virgin- ia, which Jefferson founded, does not grant honorary degrees. Jefferson was right. University boards of trustees havelost their way. Thegoal of honoringgenuine scholarship has been vitiated in today’s whirlpool of fevered opinion.Instead,celebrities are put on displayin order to entertain and keep the ceremonylight. versities should not grant these Herbert Londonis John M. Olin professor of humanities at New stood to be scholarship that caughtupin political or religious Institute. In Chomsky’scase,hispolitical views are distinctly honorary degrees are granted is known as Encaenia, the Greek wordfor“festival of renewal.” This renewal was once under- honors. He feared that a university board of trustees would get York University and president of Indianapolis-based Hudson that’s what counts. Amonghonorarydegree recipi- sic impresario Quincy Jones, People like Theodore Hesburg, former president of Notre Dame, have becomevirtual professionals Pagers Plus My Dad says that —=—=s~— at Payers Plus they got AUTHORIZED DEALER robeandsitting ona platform for a tons of neat stuff, like this sweet payer! 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