President Obama is to give the commencement address May 13 at the university's Tempe campus. But he's not going to be given an honorary degree. "It's our practice to recognize an individual for his body of work, somebody who's been in their position for a long time," Sharon Keeler, an ASU spokeswoman, told The Associated Press. "His body of work is yet to come. That's why we're not recognizing him with a degree at the beginning of his presidency." So ASU's bottom line to Obama must be: Come back when you've accomplished something. Washington Post reporter Al Kamen served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tunisia.
Al Kamen writes: No Honorary Degree For Obama at Arizona State
No Honorary Degree For Obama at Arizona State
By Al Kamen
Some people might think being elected the country's first African American president might be a big deal. Officials at the Arizona State University apparently don't think so.
President Obama is to give the commencement address May 13 at the university's Tempe campus. But he's not going to be given an honorary degree.
"It's our practice to recognize an individual for his body of work, somebody who's been in their position for a long time," Sharon Keeler, an ASU spokeswoman, told The Associated Press. "His body of work is yet to come. That's why we're not recognizing him with a degree at the beginning of his presidency."
So spending more money than any American president ever dreamed of is not a big deal? Past recipients of the award have included Barry Goldwater (before he ran for president), Sandra Day O'Connor (after only three years on the high court), former Virginia governor L. Douglas Wilder, former Cornell University president Frank H. T. Rhodes, University of Michigan professor emeritus James Duderstadt, and Wu Qidi, vice minister of education of the People's Republic of China.
"It's someone who's really outstanding, who has made outstanding contributions in their field," Keeler said. Like the Chicom vice minister of education?
So ASU's bottom line to Obama must be: Come back when you've accomplished something.
Good luck with that.
