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Should Boston College Award Condoleeza Rice An Honorary Degree? A Debate
Wednesday, May 10th, 2006

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/10/1345222
Last week, Boston College announced that Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice would be speaking at this year's commencement ceremony on May 22nd where she would also be receiving an honorary law degree. Over 200 faculty members have signed a letter in opposition. We host a debate between two Boston College professors on both sides of the issue.



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Last week, Boston College announced that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would be speaking at this year's commencement ceremony on May 22nd where she would also be receiving an honorary law degree. Soon after the announcement, two top theologians at the university circulated a letter of opposition among the faculty. As of yesterday, 200 faculty members had signed the letter and more than 1,000 members of the Boston College community have signed a petition opposing the awarding of an honorary degree to Secretary Rice.
An ad hoc faculty group has also sent a letter to the university asking them to rescind the honor. It reads in part, "The Honorary Doctorate of Laws is one of the University's highest honors, to be bestowed upon individuals worthy of such recognition as a result of highly admirable accomplishments in their personal and professional lives. We believe that Secretary Rice does not deserve this honor, and, to the extent that this degree is presumed to be conferred by the faculty, it is a compromised honor. Although Secretary Rice's personal biography and scholarly performance are noteworthy indeed, her decisions as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State discredit these achievements. Her statements and actions contradict Jesuit values and teachings on the ethics of war and violence against persons."

We go now to a debate on the issue.


Juliet Schor, professor of Sociology at Boston College. Her latest book is "Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture." She is also author of "The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure" and "The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting and the New Consumer."
Marc Landy, professor in the political science department at Boston College, has written extensively on US politics. He has written several books and articles, including most recently the text book "American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights."