Bienen rescinded the invitation Wright's School honorary Daze -Northwestern Yanks Honorary Doctorate

Wright's School Daze - Northwestern Yanks Honorary Doctorate

Rev. Jeremiah Wright is back making headlines and he hasn't even said a word. This time it's what being said about him.

Earlier this year, the faculty at Northwestern University recommended that Wright receive an honorary Doctorate of Sacred Theology. Wright accepted the invitation from Northwestern President Henry Bienen. The honorary degree was scheduled to be conferred at next week's commencement. But then the sh stuff the fan.

Back in March, Bienen rescinded the invitation, saying:

In light of the controversy surrounding statements made by you that have recently been publicized, the celebratory character of Northwestern's commencement would be affected by our conferring of this honorary degree. Thus I am withdrawing the offer of an honorary degree previously extended to you.

This is the first time that Northwestern has taken back an honorary degree. The university is located in Chicago so presumably the faculty was aware of Wright's flights of incendiary rhetoric. Indeed, Diane McClure, a Northwestern alumna, told BlackAmericaWeb.com:

Nothing that Rev. Wright has said changed between the time Northwestern University considered him for an honorary degree, offered it to him and now. For Northwestern to withdraw it says it didn't do its research before the decision was made. Now Northwestern is running away as fast as it can, causing as big a controversy as it would have had the university gone ahead and given Rev. Wright the degree.

The Northwestern University Black Alumni Association is circulating a petition calling on Northwestern to reinstate Wright's honorary degree:

Reverend Jeremiah Wright has dedicated his life's work to serving those that society has left unequal and excluded. After a review of his life's work, and a vote of the appropriate faculty committee, Reverend Wright's service with distinction to his community merited reward with an honorary degree in Sacred Theology from Northwestern. After the degree was approved by the faculty, and approved by the Board of Trustees, the degree was rescinded. This decision is not in the spirit of the academic tradition, is embarrassing for a university of Northwestern's stature, and is unprecedented.

The undersigned, including the black alumni community, the black undergraduate community, and the larger community of intellectuals and concerned citizens are outraged at the University's unilateral and unprecedented action to rescind the award of a degree offered to and accepted by Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

 

 

To:  President Henry Bienen

Reverend Jeremiah Wright has dedicated his life's work to serving those that society has left unequal and excluded. After a review of his life's work, and a vote of the appropriate faculty committee, Reverend Wright's service with distinction to his community merited reward with an honorary degree in Sacred Theology from Northwestern. After the degree was approved by the faculty, and approved by the Board of Trustees, the degree was rescinded. This decision is not in the spirit of the academic tradition, is embarrassing for a university of Northwestern’s stature, and is unprecedented.
The undersigned, including the black alumni community, the black undergraduate community, and the larger community of intellectuals and concerned citizens are outraged at the University's unilateral and unprecedented action to rescind the award of a degree offered to and accepted by Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

We call for the University to engage in the following actions immediately:
1. Reinstate the honorary degree withdrawn from Jeremiah Wright.
2. Award the Honorary Degree to Reverend Wright at the June 20th 2008 commencement ceremony.
3. Institute a faculty committee immediately to review the decision to withdraw Reverend Wright's honorary degree, and to create rules that the University will follow in the future regarding honorary degree candidates that may become the subject of controversy.
4. Disclose all facts the University used in concluding that giving Reverend Wright an honorary degree is controversial.
5. Institute a task force made up of University personnel, faculty, students and alumni to investigate the instances of insensitivity toward the Black community including the Reverend Wright controversy; the failure to grant Professor Aldon Morris, the position of permanent dean of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, though he was a finalist and was the interim Dean of the Weinberg College; Blackface – black body Halloween incident in 2007; the dramatic decline in enrollment in Black undergraduate students at Northwestern since 1992; and other instances of racial intolerace of black students that have occurred on campus; the lack of resources and financial aid for black undergraduate students; and the failure of the University to include and serve black high school students who live in impoverished communities.

We can no longer remain silent as great institutions like Northwestern bless racial and religious bigotry by withdrawing the degree from Reverend Wright, while at the same time silently close the door of opportunity on highly intelligent but poor black students.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned