UF says 'no degree for you!' to Jeb

[shinerbock]

I agree that honorary degrees are kind of stupid. I do think its ridiculous that Jeb didn't get one though. Their excuse was that he didn't really help UF that much (despite the big gains made at the school while he was governor), which is a thinly veiled code for "we're far left and we don't like him cause his last name is Bush." I hate it when professors act as though they represent the university as a whole. I remember when Cheney came to speak at graduation at AU, some professors were talking about how we don't want him at Auburn, ignoring the fact that most everyone but them did want him to come. Professors usually exist on the fringe of a school's overall ideology.

[Drolefille]

I get the idea of giving a speaker at graduation an honorary degree (not sure WHY but ok it's a tradition). The article doesn't say why they'd even be giving him a degree in the first place. If it was for no particular or traditional reason I don't know why they'd give him one.

EDIT: I went back and it seems like they give out a few honoraries every year and it sounds like the voters were split on whether he'd actually helped or hurt the university. Sounds reasonable to me. Those are the issues I'd base my vote on.

/edit

A lot of people from Florida don't like him for what he's done in office, not because of his relatives. True, the fact that he's a Bush doesn't help, but from the complaints I've heard over the past years, it's not just that.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

I get the idea of giving a speaker at graduation an honorary degree (not sure WHY but ok it's a tradition). The article doesn't say why they'd even be giving him a degree in the first place. If it was for no particular or traditional reason I don't know why they'd give him one.

The end of the article says that they would be doing it because of contributions to the university's research and scholarship programs.

I just look at an honorary degree like any other honor or award; something to be proud of, but nothing to read too much into either. As far as protests against speakers, I can think of two recent ones off the top of my head (Condoleeza Rice speaking at the Boston College graduation, and Justice Scalia speaking at UConn Law last year). It seems like it happens every year at a handful of schools.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

The end of the article says that they would be doing it because of contributions to the university's research and scholarship programs.

I just look at an honorary degree like any other honor or award; something to be proud of, but nothing to read too much into either. As far as protests against speakers, I can think of two recent ones off the top of my head (Condoleeza Rice speaking at the Boston College graduation, and Justice Scalia speaking at UConn Law last year). It seems like it happens every year at a handful of schools.

See my edit. There seem to be reasons both why and why not thus it doesn't seem like it was strictly a "Your name is Bush" thing.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

See my edit. There seem to be reasons both why and why not thus it doesn't seem like it was strictly a "Your name is Bush" thing.

I wasn't disputing that part of your post, simply offering the reason (at least from the article) why the honorary degree was being offered.

[shinerbock]

My point wasn't as much that he is connected to the Bush line, but rather his conservative placement on the ideology chart. I have a tough time believing professors objectively looked at his contributions to the University and decided against it, considering how rare this type of rejection is. Also, obviously some people are going to be against him in Florida. However, a lot of people supported him and the state didn't exactly collapse upon itself during his tenure (neither did the school). It seems like the whole thing was in pretty poor taste and provided unneeded embarrassment. I'll save the rest of my anti-academia rants for another day.

[ZTAngel]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

A lot of people from Florida don't like him for what he's done in office, not because of his relatives. True, the fact that he's a Bush doesn't help, but from the complaints I've heard over the past years, it's not just that.

Yes - and this is coming from a born and raised Floridian. (I've only been in GA for 2 years)