UF says 'no degree for you!' to Jeb

[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.