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Giving honorary degrees to celebrities

Cyc

Cyc

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Joined
Sep 11, 2000
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I've always been slightly uncomfortable with this practice.

Billy Graham, the Christian evalgilist has 20 honorary doctorate degrees and has turned down twice as many.

Stephen Colbert has a doctorate in fine arts from Knox University.

Yesterday, one of my favorite visionaries of our time, Nigel Lithgoe recieved a doctorate in the performing arts from Bedfordshire.

Many celebrities, artists and scientists who have no doubt contributed greatly to their field receive honorary degrees. Many already have degrees of their own, although others do not. Do you think that an honorary degree somehow cheapens the honour for the rest of us? Should this practice be abolished, or is the "honorary" title enough to distinguish it from a real degree?
 
Great idea for a topic Kyk! Ya, I tend to agree with you; I generally do not like seeing this done. It's not as if the famous person is going to ONLY now be able to go on and do something once the honorary degree is given, so it kind of goes against the motivation for getting a degree. I don't know if schools seek to better themselves from a sociological standpoint by doing this, but it does not seem to be working on me.

Sure, there are a lot of people that know as much as gradutes do concerning a given field, but famous or not, they shouldn't be given degrees based on that. University is an experience - the degree does not just cover knowledge per se, but also dedication, ability to handle school funding, ability to work under stress and other awkardnesses, gaining a social experience, etc. I feel like handing out an honorary degree completely restricts the degree to a claim that the person could pass all of the final exams. And that's not only what University is about.

Would love to hear an argument from the otherside, though!
 
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Eh it dosen't seem like a bad idea but not for a racist cocksmoker like Billy Grahamm.. come on now..
 
I really see no issue with it. It is distinguished from 'regular' degrees, so I don't see how it really is an issue. It's not like universities dole them out like candy to schmucks who do nothing. They're generally given to people who show excellence in that particular field or have provided inspiration in said field. So, no, I see no issue with it.
 
I see a school thinking Hmm, if we give Steven Colbert an honorary degree, his young fans might be more likely to then apply to our school, and hence our statistics will go up. That does not sit all that well with me. Nothing about Colbert's work deserved to be recognized by any one school over another, so why should Knox University be allowed to benefit from doing this?

Maybe 'Award of Recognition' or something without "degree" in the title would make me feel better?
 
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