Highlights
- Recognizing individuals with distinctive achievements is a worldwide practice.
- It is believed that the first honorary degree was awarded in the United Kingdom by the University of Oxford.
- Honorary degrees have been controversial, and institutions do not always award honorary degrees to honor an individual’s exceptional achievement.
- It is common to see honorary degrees have been rescinded based on public protests due to the recipient’s actions.
- Strictly following the guidelines of nomination and selection, and inviting the general public to nominate may minimize the controversies.
2023 graduation ceremony in Ethiopia
On July 20, more than 25 public universities hosted commencement ceremonies for their graduating classes of 2023 (2015 E.C.). According to the Ethiopian Monitor report, the ceremonies saw more than 70,000 students graduate with Bachelor, MAs, and Ph.D. degrees at their respective universities. The highest achiever students were recognized with medals and other forms of awards. Universities also award honorary doctoral degrees to individuals they believe deserve to be honored. According to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation news outlet, in 2023, seven individuals were awarded with honorary doctorates by various public universities. This may be the highest number of honorary doctorates award to date.
- H.E. Mrs. Zinash Tayachew, the wife of the Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, from Adama Science and Technology University.
- Mr. Biniam Belete, founder of Mekedonia Humanitarian Association, from Addis Ababa University.
- Mr. Debebe Eshetu, artist, from Addis Ababa University.
- Mrs. Ejigayehu Shibabaw, singer, from Injibara University.
- Mr. Kenenisa Bekele, athlete, from Arsi University.
- Sheikh Haji Ibrahim Tufa, Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, from Arsi University.
- Mrs. Meaza Biru, journalist, from Bahir Dar University.
After the news came out, not all awardees were received by the public, let alone by activists. Divided opinions have been observed in social media. Some groups argued that not all recipients deserve it and the decision was politically motivated. Some even believe universities are just competing to bestow honorary degrees to individuals from the localities where the university is inaugurated. Given the current political, ethnic and religious tensions in Ethiopia, this may not be surprising. While congratulating the awardees, in this article, I briefly presented the background, historical origin, modern practice, and controversies of giving honorary doctoral degrees.
Background
An honorary degree, commonly in the form of honorary doctorates, is an academic degree for which a university or college has exempted some or all of the usual requirements and is awarded to the individual who has no prior connection with the academic institution, though some are. It is considered as the highest honor an institution can give to an individual. The phrase comes from the Latin phrase honoris causa (“for the sake of the honour”) or ad honorem (“to the honour”). It honors individuals for distinctive achievements in the creative and performing arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences, public service, philanthropy, business, the learned professions, social justice, international understanding, and human rights. Moreover, an honorary doctorate is given to identify the University/college with the values expressed through the work and accomplishments of the honoree, drawing attention to the University as an institution that respects and encourages such values and how those values are expressed, and to emphasize its institutional mission and purposes.
History of honorary degree
It is believed that the practice of awarding honorary doctorate degrees dates back to the Middle Ages (approximately 500 years ago). The first honorary degree was awarded in the United Kingdom by the University of Oxford to Lionel Woodville in the late 1470s. In the late 16th century, the granting of honorary degrees became quite common, especially when royal visits to Oxford or Cambridge. Since then, it has become increasingly common across the globe and individuals received honorary degrees from national and/or international institutions.
Harvard University in the United States claims it awarded its first honorary degree to Benjamin Franklin in 1753, while nearby Brandeis University says the first such degree was given to Increase Mather in 1692. Generally, more than 100 institutions in the United States conferred honorary Ph.D. degrees in the 19th century, to more than 700 recipients. The number of honorary Ph.D. degrees awarded in the U.S. declined in the 20th century as Cornell University, Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Virginia, and Rice University already avoided the tradition of awarding honorary doctorate degrees because of criticisms and uprisings.
Even though there is no clear data on when the conferring of honorary degrees started, awarding honorary degrees is becoming more common in Ethiopia. It is believed that the trend was started by Addis Ababa University and is now followed by many of the country’s 50 public universities.
Modern practice
Honorary degrees are usually awarded at regular graduation ceremonies, at which the recipients are often invited to make a speech of acceptance before the assembled faculty and graduates – an event that often forms the highlight of the ceremony. Generally, universities nominate several persons each year for honorary degrees based on their awarding policies and procedures. These nominations usually go through several committees before receiving approval. Nominees are generally not told until formal approval and invitation are made.
Recipients of honorary degrees typically wear the same academic dress as recipients of substantive degrees, although there are a few exceptions: honorary graduates at the University of Cambridge wear the appropriate full-dress gown but not the hood, and those at the University of St Andrews wear a black cassock instead of the usual full-dress gown.
Additionally, recipients of honorary doctorates are typically not referred to as “doctor” and are expected to use the title ‘Dr’ in the manner that those who have earned it through rigorous academic processes do. If the recipients do use the title, one would at least expect a clear indication that the degree is honorary, not earned. However, such expectations are not always observed. While there are universities whose policies dictate how recipients should or should not use the title ‘Dr’ before their names, others leave it up to the recipient.
Controversies
Honorary degrees have been controversial, and universities do not always award honorary degrees to honor a person’s exceptional achievement. Some universities and colleges have been accused of granting honorary degrees to reward their benefactors, attract new donors and generate publicity for marketing purposes. According to BestColleges report, 35 of the 60 people who received honorary degrees between 2002 and 2012 made donations to the respective universities totaling $13.6 million. Far beyond an individual’s recognition, universities regard the award as a means of publicly declaring their values and improving their public image. They recognize that it helps them to be seen as institutions that hold outstanding intellectual and creative accomplishments in high regard. The choice of recipients and the criteria used are being questioned by the community and universities have been accused of making wrong choices influenced by publicity, religious, ethnic and regional orientations. Besides, awarding an honorary degree to political figures can prompt protests from faculty, students, or the community. Consequently, it is common to see honorary degrees have been rescinded based on public protests due to the recipient’s actions.
In the United Kingdom, the University of Oxford voted in 1985 to refuse Margaret Thatcher an honorary degree in protest against her cuts in funding for higher education. This award had previously been given to all prime ministers who had been educated at Oxford.
In the United States of America, George W. Bush received an honorary degree from Yale University in 2001. Consequently, some students and faculty boycott the university’s 300th commencement. Andrew Card, Bush’s Chief of Staff from 2001 to 2006, did not attend the award ceremony when the University of Massachusetts Amherst awarded him an honorary degree in 2007, in response to protests from students and faculty at the commencement ceremonies. Moreover, almost all the 62 honorary degrees awarded to American comedian Bill Cosby have been revoked due to sexual assault charges. In December 2022, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago rescinded an honorary doctorate awarded to rapper Kanye West after a series of racist and antisemitic remarks made by West.
In Canada, the University of Western Ontario awarded Henry Morgentaler with an honorary Doctor of Laws in 2005. As a result, over 12,000 signatures were acquired asking the university to reverse its decision to honor Morgentaler. Several protest rallies were also held, including one on the day the honorary degree was bestowed.
In Zimbabwe, the University of Edinburgh revoked an honorary degree awarded to leader Robert Mugabe in 2007 because of protest related to human rights abuse or political corruption in his country. Similarly, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Michigan State University revoked the honorary degree that was awarded to Mugabe because of students’ similar requests.
In Ethiopia, the University of Gondar revoked the honorary doctorated awarded to Dr. Eleni Gebremedhin (Ph.D.) because of a secret Zoom meeting with Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) along with the British, French and Spanish diplomats, that the university labeled as “unpatriotic act”. The decision is likely the first in the 59-year history of the university and that of the Ethiopian higher education sector as well. In addition, the Tampere University of Technology (TUT) in Finland rescinded the honorary doctorate it was scheduled to award to Ethiopia’s prime minister Halemariam Desalegn following a relentless campaign by Ethiopians in the Diaspora who believe a man at the helm of a brutal regime does not deserve such recognition.
