Why do colleges give honorary degrees?

Parent Cafe
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<p>Editorial in Wednesday’s Boston Globe: (I tried listing the link but it sends you to a page requiring a login)</p>

<p>"May 14, 2008
THE ANNUAL tradition of universities bestowing honorary degrees on dignitaries may be more trouble than it’s worth. The University of Massachusetts gave an honorary doctorate to Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, in 1986, and now the pressure is on to revoke the honor, since the African statesman has proven to be a despotic thug. The University of Edinburgh stripped Mugabe of its honorary degree last year, but Michigan State University, where Mugabe received a doctorate in 1990, has so far demurred.</p>

<p>Considering that universities are intended to be bastions of academic freedom, trying to navigate the political passions of the times can be tricky. Last year UMass faced protests when Andrew Card, chief of staff to President Bush, was given a degree. Banners hanging from dorm windows called Card a war criminal.</p>

<p>Things can go badly. The boxer Mike Tyson was awarded an honorary doctorate from Ohio State University in 1989 and went on to commit a rape - and to bite off his opponent’s ear. In 1968, Harvard gave a law degree to its commencement speaker, the shah of Iran.</p>

<p>Earlier this month Northwestern University rescinded an honorary doctorate in sacred theology to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Chicago’s incendiary preacher. But Northwestern has no problem giving an honorary degree to its law school commencement speaker this year, the disreputable TV host Jerry Springer. In 2000, a guest on Springer’s show was brutally murdered by her ex-husband just hours after a segment aired called “Secret Mistresses Confronted,” featuring the estranged couple.</p>

<p>MIT seems to have the right idea: Since its first graduation in 1868, the school has never offered honorary degrees. Founder William Barton Rogers wrote that MIT would only grant degrees for true scholarship, and had “firmly barred the door against the demands of spurious merit and noisy popularity.” Take that, Dr. Mugabe.</p>

<p>Correction: An editorial Wednesday mistated the name of the university that granted an honorary degree to Mike Tyson. It is Central State University in Ohio.</p>

<p>© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company."</p>

<p>I’m voting with MIT. Why do colleges give honorary degrees anyway?</p>

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<p>Sometimes, it is just the right thing to do:</p>

<p>[For former WWII internees, UW degrees come after 66-year wait](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004391397_uwjapanesemain04m.html”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004391397_uwjapanesemain04m.html&lt;/a&gt;)</p>

<p>[uweek.org</a> | UW to honor WW II-era Japanese American students May 18](<a href=“http://uwnews.org/uweek/uweekarticle.asp?articleID=41611]uweek.org”>http://uwnews.org/uweek/uweekarticle.asp?articleID=41611)</p>

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<p>^^^ That is very noble, but it’s not what most honorary degrees are about. Most of the time the college is giving one to someone who has “accomplished” something, and very often the person is only loosely affiliated with the school, if there is any affiliation at all. Giving an “honorary” degree to former students who were forced to leave college thru no fault of their own is a different story than giving honorary degrees to sports heroes or foreign leaders or Bill Cosby.</p>

<p>I think MIT got it right. The only MIT degrees given out are those that are earned. (again the UW - WWII case is a completely different story IMHO).</p>

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<p>I agree with you, Lafalum, MIT got it right. I think most of these honorary doctorates are just publicity stunts.</p>

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<p>Question–do they pay commencement speakers? Or is the speech generally given in trade for an honorary degree?</p>

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<p>I have wondered about this as well. When my daughter narrowed down her choices, I read the bios of the presidents of the universities she was considering. I cannot remember the others, but the college she ended up attended, the president has something like 12 honorary degrees. I remember thinking at the time, o.k., WHY??? What is the point?</p>

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<p>Actually, the decision of MIT to not award honorary degrees comes from the tradition of the University of Virginia not to do so. The founder of MIT, who was a longtime UVA professor, decided to carry this legacy to Massachusetts from Virginia.</p>

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<p>Cornell- no honorary degrees, no (paid or otherwise) celeb commencement speakers. The university president gave a find speech at my graduation.</p>

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<p>I’ve never seen the point of honorary degrees either. They’re really meaningless and smack of something obtained by filling out the back of a matchbook cover, or with a bribe.</p>