Dr Dr Dr Madiba. Snippet: ... In a month, Mandela's office receives about 3 000 requests from organisations, individuals and institutions wishing to present an award of some sort to him. In July 1996, eight leading British universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, collectively bestowed honorary degrees on Mandela during a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace. ... Mandela himself is not aware of some of the honorary degrees awarded to him. Southall said a university in Michigan that Mandela visited had told him they had bestowed an honorary degree on him in 1976. He did not know about it until that day.
Fascinating. Perhaps Mandela is a contender, along with Father Hesburgh and the King of Thailand, for the "most honorary degrees" title. He certainly holds the record for the most in one day (8), although I believe Sargent Shriver once got seven in a day, and that was at separate ceremonies. Perhaps there are many cases of universities, like the one in Michigan, awarding degrees secretly, the way the Pope can "secretly" create Cardinals, "in pectore," that only he knows about. John Bear, who is sure that ivy league school awarded me an honorary degree, they just forgot to tell me about it
what do you guys think of honorary degrees? do you think when celebrities get them should they turn them down or just accept as matter of courtesy and not use it as a credential?. Or are they legitimate to be proud of ( suppose this would depend on the quality of the school and why you were awarded obviously).
