As you may have heard by now, Barack Obama will deliver a commencement address to the graduates of Arizona State University on May 13, but ASU won’t return the favor by granting him an honorary degree.
Sharon Keeler, a spokeswoman for the university told Politico, “It’s normally awarded to someone who has been in their field for some time.”
“Considering that the president is at the beginning of his presidency, his body of work is just beginning,” she said.
Just for fun, we pulled up ASU’s list of honorary degree recipients and did some Google-ing and discovered a couple interesting things:
Barry Goldwater received his honorary degree in May 1961, three years before his failed bid for the presidency and only eight years into his three decades as a U.S. senator. And according to the East Valley Tribune “Sandra Day O’Connor was similarly recognized just three years in her 25 years on the U.S. Supreme Court.”
The subtext here, of course, is that Goldwater and O’Connor (two Arizonans) had no problem getting honorary degrees from ASU after clearing a bar of service that Obama has at least matched. And, naturally, that Obama beat some guy from Arizona for the presidency. Perhaps there’s more at play here than an objective assessment of Obama’s achievements.
There’s surely more examples like this, so look for yourself. The list is long, and, though O’Connor is the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, none of the people on it are the first black President of the United States.
Late update: Sam Stein posts a letter from ASU’s Office of the Provost:
Dear xxxxxxxxxxxx,
We have tremendous respect for President Obama, and that is why we invited him to speak at our graduation ceremony. We are honored that he accepted our invitation, and that we will be the first university in the nation to host him for a commencement ceremony.
In recent years, we have determined not to give honorary degrees to sitting politicians or major donors, but to do so based on an individual’s body of work. While President Obama has already achieved remarkable success–including becoming the first African-American president–his greatest work is yet to come. We will be delighted to consider him for an honorary degree once he leaves office at the end of his presidency.
Sincerely,
Emily Dalton Smith
Director of Communication
Office of the Provost
Arizona State University
Incidentally, John McCain himself has not received an honorary degree from ASU.
