UMass may yank tyrant's honorary law degree

By Kristin Palpini
Staff Writer

Published on April 06, 2007

The University of Massachusetts has never retracted an honorary degree, but it may make an exception for Robert G. Mugabe.

The UMass president's office is reviewing whether to revoke an honorary doctor of laws degree bestowed upon Zimbabwe's president by the Amherst campus in 1986.

"It has been brought up over time and we've discussed it," said William Wright, a spokesman for the UMass president's office. "We're reviewing the issue."

Although Mugabe officially holds the title of president, he is considered by most to be a tyrannical dictator whose rule has been marked by intimidation, violence, fraud and robbery. He was elected prime minister of Zimbabwe in the country's first election after British control ended in 1980. When the position of prime minister was dissolved in 1987, Mugabe became president. Since then, he has intimidated the political opposition and rigged elections to maintain power, according to the U.S. Department of State.

Under Mugabe's regime, Zimbabwe's inflation rate has spiraled to at least 1,000 percent and people suffer from an 80 percent unemployment rate. HIV/AIDS plagues almost 25 percent of the country's population. The average life expectancy is 39 years, down from 62 in 1988.

Further, farmland has been taken from owners, opposition leaders have been beaten and in 2005, under Operation Restore Order, 700,000 poor opposition supporters were forced out of their homes and businesses - all with Mugabe's approval.

According to Wright, UMass has informally discussed the revocation of Mugabe's degree for over a year. The university is not alone in its consideration. Edinburgh University in Scotland and Michigan State University also awarded Mugabe honorary degrees, in 1984 and 1990 respectively, and are reviewing whether to revoke them.

Pressure on UMass to withdraw Mugabe's honorary degree increased this semester, with a student petition for the retraction circulated on the Boston campus. Articles protesting the degree have appeared in student newspapers.

"There's a lot of attention to this degree, which was given to Robert Mugabe prior to his becoming president," Wright said. "No particular decision has been made yet."

While the UMass president's office is reviewing Mugabe's degree, Wright said it is the board of trustees, which awards honorary degrees, that would most likely be the authority to take it away.

UMass has no established protocol to revoke an honorary degree.

"It sounds like it would be a trustee issue. There may be a need to create a process," Wright said.

Still, the issue has yet to reach the UMass Board of Trustees.

"It hasn't come to us ... but that doesn't mean it isn't an issue of discussion, I just haven't heard it," said Chairman Stephen Tocco, who joined the board in September.

"I don't even know if we can do something like that. Can we take it back?" Tocco asked.

In the university's 121 years of awarding honorary degrees, it has never withdrawn one. Since 1885, the university's five campuses have awarded about 1,960 honorary degrees. Recipients include author Toni Morrison, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, basketball player Larry Bird and former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, to name a few.