3 US, UK universities mull revoking Mugabe's honorary degrees

3 US, UK universities mull revoking Mugabe's honorary degrees

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By Staff Reporter

TWO American and one British universities are considering petitions to strip President Robert Mugabe of honorary degrees conferred on him.

Edinburgh University in Scotland, the University of Massachusetts and the Michigan State University are carrying out the review because of human rights violations in Zimbabwe, officials said.

Scottish MP Nigel Griffiths is to personally present Edinburgh University chiefs with a "dossier" spelling out why the Zimbabwean President should be stripped of his honorary degree.

Griffiths, an Edinburgh graduate, last week tabled a Parliamentary motion calling for the award to be revoked, and has now asked for an early meeting with Principal Tim O'Shea to discuss the subject.

The honorary degree, which the university awarded to Mugabe in 1984 in the initial euphoria over independence and majority rule in the country, has become increasingly controversial in recent months as the human rights situation has deteriorated.

Griffiths said: "I'm seeking an early meeting with Tim O'Shea to present him with a dossier of Mugabe's deeds with a view to securing from him an undertaking for speedy action.

"The university doesn't need to get hung up about this. It is not like a ordinary degree which you work for and have no matter what you do afterwards. An honorary degree is something discretionary, you receive an honorary degree as a mark of approval and you should not then misuse it, like Mugabe is doing.

"It says something about how odious Mugabe is that people want to strip him of the degree, if you think of all the people in the world who get honorary degrees and there are hardly any calls for these degrees to be removed.

"I also think the public momentum for this is only starting and the university would be wise to act quickly."

The University of Massachusetts which has awarded nearly 2,000 honorary degrees to world leaders, renowned scholars and writers is also considering revoking the honorary degree it confered on Mugabe.

Mugabe received an honorary doctorate of law from the UMass-Amherst campus in 1986, hailed as a humane revolutionary who ended an oppressive white rule to establish an independent Zimbabwe in 1979.

Some UMass students at the Boston campus have circulated a petition asking for the university to revoke Mugabe's degree, and officials say they're considering doing so.

According to UMass policy, honorary degrees are handed out to people "of great accomplishment and high ethical standards." Recipients have included Nelson Mandela, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, author Toni Morrison and comedian and educator Bill Cosby.

Michigan State University, which gave Mugabe honorary degrees in 1984 and 1990, has also received similar petitions.

Terry Denbow, a Michigan State spokesman, said: "There have been discussions, but I know of no formal process for rescinding the degree."

Michigan State has stopped its study abroad program in Zimbabwe.

Once lauded as a model for African democracy, Mugabe has tried to crush opposition to his power and has threatened to expel Western envoys for criticising his government.

Zimbabwe has the world's highest inflation rate and suffers from shortages of food, hard currency, gasoline and essential imports. The country's Roman Catholic bishops said last month that health, education and other public services "have all but disintegrated."

"Mugabe has become a scourge of his people and a scourge of Africa," said Michael Thelwell, a professor in the UMass Afro-American studies department. "He has degenerated as a political leader and as a human being."

Thelwell was one of the professors who encouraged the school to award Mugabe an honorary degree in 1986.

"They gave it to the Robert Mugabe of the past, who was an inspiring and hopeful figure and a humane political leader at the time," he said. "The university has nothing to apologize for in giving a degree to the Robert Mugabe of 20 years ago. And they wouldn't imagine giving an honorary degree to the Robert Mugabe of today."

But Thelwell and others cautioned against revoking the degree just to appease Mugabe's critics.

"The task of intellectuals is to seek the truth, not to be swayed by pressures of the moment," said Bill Strickland, a UMass politics professor. "If they take away the degree, they have to look at all the facts surrounding what is happening in Zimbabwe and not simply blame just one person."

Bill Wright, a spokesman for UMass president Jack Wilson, said university officials and trustees were "just in the discussion phase" about what to do with Mugabe's degree.

If they decide they want to withdraw the honor, it is not likely to happen anytime soon. While the university has a detailed procedure for awarding the degrees, there is no process for taking one back.
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