Degrees given to honored guests

Bill Clinton, James Earl Jones, Billy Graham, Bill Cosby and John Edwards all have one thing in common: All have received honorary degrees from the University.

These people are just a few among many distinguished others who have received this honor given out at Commencement each May.

The Honorary Degrees and Special Awards Committee works each year to reward outstanding individuals who deserve such honorable awards.

Linda Dykstra, dean of the Graduate School and a member of the committee, said individuals who have distinguished themselves or have made contributions to higher education qualify for an honorary degree.

“The individual has (to have) made meritorious, outstanding contributions to the University or society in general,” she said.

Former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, a 1967 UNC graduate, received his doctor of laws degree in 1997 from the University.

Bowles has nine other honorary doctorates, including one from Wake Forest University.

“I am a graduate of UNC,” Bowles stated in an e-mail. “For me to receive an honorary degree from this University that I love and that I feel has done so much for me is indeed an honor.”

The committee not only determines who will receive an honorary degree, but it also choose individuals to receive other awards such as the distinguished alumnus and alumna awards, the Thomas Jefferson award, the O. Max Gardner Award and any other awards referred to the committee.

The committee is composed of six faculty members elected to three-year terms and a seventh member who is the secretary of the faculty and an ex officio member.

Joseph Ferrell, secretary of the faculty, has served on the committee for nine years.

Ferrell said the University awarded its first honorary degree in 1799. After skipping a few years, UNC has awarded honorary degrees at every Commencement since 1810.

“The Commencement speaker has to be an honorary degree nominee,” he said. “There are also a maximum of six degrees authorized each year.”

“The committee invites nominations of all members of faculty or anyone, really,” he added.

Usually, he said, there are 10 to 15 nominations received each year for possible honorary degree recipients. The committee looks at the nominations and then decides who it will award.

“We have always been unanimous,” Ferrell said about the committee’s decision.

After the committee decides upon the nominees for honorary degrees, the nominees must be approved by members of the Faculty Council and UNC’s Board of Trustees.

UNC usually only awards four types of honorary degrees — doctor of laws, doctor of letters, doctor of science and doctor of divinity — to those with outstanding achievements.

Ferrell said that in exceptional cases, a more specialized honorary degree may be given, such as a doctor of humane letters and fine arts.

An honorary degree is different from an actual degree, Ferrell said.

He explained that attending the University and receiving a degree means you are receiving a credential. This degree certifies that you have done the work required to graduate.

“An honorary degree is simply an honor,” Ferrell said.

“A doctor of laws degree does not mean that you can go practice law.”

Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.