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Home > Blogs > Seen and Overheard > Archives > 2009 > May > 14 > Entry
Did Obama deserve an honorary degree from Arizona State?
Being elected United States president can get you Secret Service agents, a sweet 747 and access to the button, but it apparently is not enough to earn you an honorary degree from Arizona State University.
The university on Wednesday, May 13, declined to give President Obama the typical honorary degree you get when you give a commencement address.
Don’t think he got a toaster either.
Obama joked the whole thing off during his speech Wednesday, saying his wife also thinks he should accomplish more to earn the degree.
See Associated Press article here.
“I come here not to dispute the suggestion that I haven’t yet achieved enough in my life,” Obama said. “First of all, Michelle concurs with that assessment. She has a long list of things that I have not yet done waiting for me when I get home.”
Commencement speakers typically receive an honorary degrees as a sign of respect and appreciation.
A University of spokeswoman said Obama has done enough yet.
“His body of work is yet to come,” Sharon Keeler said. “That’s why we’re not recognizing him with a degree at the beginning of his presidency.
Did Obama deserve the degree? Tell us below.
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Comments
By horace Harris
May 14, 2009 3:57 PM | Link to this
Obama is a man who has a law degree, who worked in Chicago as a servant to the people of Chicago, a man who is raising two childrens with his wife, who ran and won a seat in the U.S. Senate, and a man who, against all odds, ran for U.S. President, and won - becoming the first Black American to become President of the United State of America. Yes, I belive he should have received a honorary degree from Arizona State U. Arizona State used any lame reason to not award him an honorary degree. Know we know Sharon Keeler and other like her at the University does not like President Obama.By de novo
May 14, 2009 4:11 PM | Link to this
He received degrees from Columbia and Harvard he did not earn, a product of racial equality, so no, his body of work was not deserving of an honorary degree. Indeed, until he can get by w/o a teleprompter, he is not deserving to be called chief.By SHY
May 14, 2009 4:18 PM | Link to this
It’s so funny! Who cares he didn’t get an honorary degree from there, he’s the President of the U.S. How much more could he achieve? The first black, intelligent, well-educated, black, President I must add!!!We laugh at you racist, mad at the world people who hate the fact that he’s ALL OUR president….By irishguy
May 14, 2009 4:48 PM | Link to this
Shy, we aren’t upset with the color of his skin, it’s the far left politics that concern most conservatives. After all he is half white and no one seems to hold that against him. I think ASU’s reasoning is understandable.By Emaleth
May 14, 2009 4:49 PM | Link to this
Creating the scholarships in his name was a nice touch. However if it has been “sop” to bestow an “Honorary Degree” to the presidents who speak at commencements why did ASU decline? This stuff about his body of work…come on…I’m not buying that for one second! Racism alive and well and living at our fine universities! Poor de novo, you have no idea what it takes to get degrees from those universities (he had to do the work after he was accepted in!). And to keep the record straight, he is only 1/2 African American, raised in a white environment. Never the less, he is “All Our Commander @ Chief”, so please at least respect the position ( we had to with the ido_t Bush!)…By de novo
May 14, 2009 5:16 PM | Link to this
Emaleth: of course I would have an idea about “those” degrees, I earned mine at Michigan and Harvard Law. If you had access and examined his records on the west coast prior to his transfer to Columbia, his academic achievements would give you pause. But you are right, the public voted for him, rah rah, as he could speak the English language and occasionally, a teleprompter. Take that away, he’s an empty suit with talking pts.By Savanation
May 15, 2009 8:39 AM | Link to this
“he’s an empty suit with talking pts.” (de novo) Just who is de novo talking about? Boehner? Cheney? Dobson? Gingrich? Palin? Limbaugh? Hannity? O’Reilly? Beck? Lindsay? Sanford? Palenty? Bunning? McConnell? Schmidt? Coulter? Savage? Coleman? Etc.? Looks to me like a full rack at The Men’s Warehouse. I think I will go with someone intelligent and wise. de novo is against that. Looks like Michigan and Harvard let one slip through. Maybe they should sue to get their degrees back. Not sure Michigan and Harvard likes you putting your name in conjunction with theirs.By Savanation
May 15, 2009 8:42 AM | Link to this
BTW, de novo, which year were you the Editor of the Harvard Law Review? Oh, I know! It was a racial thing. Right.By Mike
May 15, 2009 10:07 AM | Link to this
I guess de novo has never caught a town hall meeting where Obama has taken unscreened and unscripted questions from random live human beings. Including many who don’t actually agree with Obama. Or maybe he just missed all these news conferences where he answers questions from mainstream media types in which he gives long and detailed answers to questions. So much so that the reporters whine later about how “boring” his press conferences are and how uninterested they are in Obama’s wonkish answers. And I guess he forgets our previous President who wouldn’t even allow those who might disagree with him to ATTEND HIS PUBLIC EVENTS because there was a small chance someone who disagreed might make him the least bit uncomfortable or force him to publicly show his ignorance for all to see. de novo, You might, as you claim, be an educated person. But your statements here are ignorant and uninformed.