First of all, I don't want to start a debate here because this is a level A current events emotional trigger for a lot of folks... so this isn't about Bill Cosby's fall from grace per se, just one aspect of it. I'm sure we all have our opinions about what should happen or not happen in his case.... But my topic and question is about one aspect of it. I saw again this morning that another college is taking back an honorary degree. WHAT'S WITH THAT??? Sheesh! I knew that some universities give this out very sparingly, but golly, how many of those puppies did this dude have?! My thought is that... well, bluntly, it doesn't seem to mean much of anything at all if colleges all over America are throwing them at you just because of your name. Doesn't that water down the meaning of an honorary degree terribly? And does a "real" college degree even come into play here? I guess my main question is this... how *does* one get an honorary degree? All I can think of is what boils down to buying them? Donating large amounts of money to the school? Or maybe....? I don't know. What else? Maybe just to jump on the bandwagon because *other* schools are giving them and you want your name heard as well?
I believe honorary degrees are bought with money, fame or both. I think it cheapens the real degree of those who have earned it.
Oh, I absolutely agree with you, @Sheldon Scott . I never understood the purpose... it's like Monopoly money and yes, it *does* cheapen it terribly for graduates who earned it and who've worked their way through classes to GET their degree with their sweat. Many years ago I did some online "classes" that weren't really classes at all, but the ending result if you learned the material was a "certification" diploma saying you were certified in whatever the class was. I thought it was the coolest thing ever when I spent a few weeks on it and became a "certified nutritionist." Only I was always too embarrassed to try to use it anywhere... because it finally hit me that it couldn't have possibly been real... or at least real to the point of helping to find employment, etc. Oh well, I've done a lot of living and learning in my lifetime.
I think some honorary degrees are legit for example Linus Pauling had 48 honorary doctorates and two Nobel Prizes. There is others that I would question.
An honorary degree is simply an honor given to a person. It is similar to an award in the film competition like Oscars where the winner is given a trophy as an honor. Anybody can get an honorary degree but I believe that it should have a good reason for granting such. You just don't give away honorary degrees just like that. Now, for taking back an honorary degree, I think that is something silly on the part of the school. Does that mean that they had made a mistake in giving the honorary degree in the first place? The school just have to live with their decision (of giving the honorary degree).