Honorary degrees no prize for Class Day speakers

At most universities, the featured graduation speaker is an alumnus or the recipient of an honorary degree. This year's keynote Class Day speaker at Yale, NBC Nightly News broadcaster Tom Brokaw, is neither. This is partly due to the fact that at Yale, the selection processes for Class Day speakers and honorary degree recipients are completely separate.

While schools with more traditional commencements often use honorary degrees and speaking fees of up to $50,000 to lure speakers, Yale's Class Day is student-run, and "[getting a speaker] is a difficult process," Senior Class Council (SCC) co-chair Preston Hopson, SM '98, explained.

Although Hopson acknowledged that the office of President Richard Levin, GRD '74, was very supportive of the SCC's search for a Class Day speaker, he wishes that the honorary degree selection committee could work with the Class Day orchestrators.

"We work closely with the Association of Yale Alumni in planning Class Day, but we're not in on the honorary degree process," Hopson said. Honorary degrees are selected by a committee of the Yale Corporation that includes some faculty members. The committee's ideas come mostly from "people sending in names," Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, said.

"I understand the confidentiality and secrecy behind it, but I would propose having the President's Office work with one or two class officers. We can't invite [honorary degree recipients] when we don't know who they are," Hopson said.

But according to Brodhead, the selection process for honorary degree recipients is not meant to be connected with the choice of Class Day speaker. Honorary degrees are "a way to show admiration for high accomplishment," he explained. The honorees receive nothing more than a sheet of paper for their trouble, but Brodhead notes that they seldom decline the invitation.

"The degree is worthless except in the domain of honor, but after all, the human appetite for honor is not easily slaked," he said. "Besides, whatever they get is more than counterbalanced by what they give."

The degrees are not revealed until Commencement Day, when the recipients sit opposite the young graduates, providing an inspiring contrast between accomplishments achieved and accomplishments yet to come. "The presence [of the honorees] really adds to the magic of Yale commencement," Brodhead said. "It's so inspiring to see what people have done with their lives, and such an emblematic spectacle to those on the threshold of promise, the graduates."

Yale typically gives out eight to 10 honorary degrees per year. Some recipients are Yale graduates, but many are not.

Past honorees have included Martin Luther King, Jr., Paul Simon, and Jodie Foster, CC '81. Often, honorees are less well-known individuals who have nonetheless made their own noteworthy contributions to society.

Last year, for example, Mary Robinson, the first female President of Ireland, and Eddie Robinson, the long-time football coach of Grambling College, both received honorary degrees. Another recipient was Benjamin Carson, DC '73, who rose from inner-city Detroit to become a physician and administrator at John Hopkins University.

"There's a huge emphasis on social service, but also on things like artistic excellence. [Honorees are] people who have done something truly outstanding and shown unusual devotion to the life of their community," Brodhead said.

The Class Day speaker, on the other hand, is chosen by means of a class survey which asks students detailed questions about the qualities they want to see in a speaker, such as the person's professional background. The survey also allows students to suggest specific names. "Students apparently feel like the message is what's important," Hopson noted.

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