<p>Well, maybe I didn’t make my point very clear – it’s not a liberal/conservative thing. It’s a competence thing. You would think that before Brandeis offers someone an honorary degree that they would carry out the due diligence necessary to know what they’re getting into. However the Brandeis’ official statement includes: “We cannot overlook certain of her past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University’s core values.” What changed over the past couple of days? Was Brandeis unaware of these “past statements”? If so, how did the faculty and students who objected to Ali’s honorary degree find them so quickly? </p>
<p>It’s more likely that Brandeis knew of the controversy surrounding Ali. So either Brandeis was so ignorant of the nature of their constituency that they didn’t anticipate the brouhaha that arouse, or they did anticipate it but were spineless once some faculty and students started whining . Either way, it speaks very poorly of the school’s administration to have offered this honorary degree to Ali, and then have to withdraw the offer. That’s why I titled the thread ‘Amateur Hour’.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about my son. He has some good options. They might be just as liberal, but that doesn’t bother him. But they may be more competent.</p>