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| Africa Subsaharan |
| UMass might take back Zimbabwe president's honorary degree |
| 2007-04-07 |
| Since 1885, the University of Massachusetts has awarded nearly 2,000 honorary degrees to world leaders, renowned scholars and writers. For the first time, it is considering taking one back - from Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe. When Mugabe received an honorary doctorate of law from the UMass-Amherst campus in 1986, he was hailed as a humane revolutionary who ended an oppressive white rule to establish an independent Zimbabwe in 1979. But in the two decades since, Mugabe has been condemned for attacks on dissidents and accused of running a corrupt government that has ruined the economy. On Wednesday, the student senate of the UMass-Boston campus passed a resolution asking the university to revoke Mugabe's degree, and officials say they are considering doing so. "Mugabe's actions during the past decade show he's fallen from being a good citizen of the world,'' said Shauna Murray, a graduate student who helped circulate a petition last month on the Boston campus urging the administration to rescind the degree. "He has a track record of suppressing basic human rights like free speech and the right to protest, and that doesn't represent what students here stand for,'' she said. The issue also has surfaced at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and Michigan State University, which gave Mugabe honorary degrees in 1984 and 1990, respectively. Terry Denbow, a Michigan State spokesman, said administrators have received letters requesting that Mugabe's degree be rescinded. "There have been discussions, but I know of no formal process for rescinding the degree,'' Denbow said, adding that Michigan State has stopped its study abroad program in Zimbabwe. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 The left is always taking back stuff, confiscating stuff, taxing stuff and forbidding stuff. That they eat their own is just a reminder of what they prefer to do. |
| Posted by: badanov 2007-04-07 15:37 |
| #3 I don't understand this. Isn't he fulfilling exactly what they prescribe? Most universities don't allow "basic human rights like free speech and the right to protest" if you aren't in the favored group. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2007-04-07 12:02 |
| #2 heh even massholes are ditching bobby Mooogobbie. |
| Posted by: Red Dog 2007-04-07 04:16 |
| #1 You know it's over, Bob, when you lose even the UMASS-Amherst contingent... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-04-07 00:14 |