"Honor"ary Degrees
April 30, 2010 11:13 AM Subscribe
What is the easiest way to get an honorary degree?
Famous people get honorary degrees all the time without having to work for them. How could a layperson get on that train?
note: I'm not talking about faking a degree or committing any kind of fraud. loopholes are ok, but outright fraud is no good.
Famous people get honorary degrees all the time without having to work for them. How could a layperson get on that train?
note: I'm not talking about faking a degree or committing any kind of fraud. loopholes are ok, but outright fraud is no good.
I know several people with honorary doctorates (in Canada this is often designated as LL.D). They were all granted these degrees for outstanding contribution to the community (ie. a lifetime spent volunteering for specific causes, raising millions for medical research or the arts, being an active participant in lobbying government for successful law changes to protect the environment or children etc.).
posted by meerkatty at 11:21 AM on April 30, 2010
posted by meerkatty at 11:21 AM on April 30, 2010
Generally, you need to a) need to be really famous for something positive, b) attract the attention of a University (a very large donation might help here), c) get nominated (ditto), and d) accept, then show up for commencement. Usually a speech is involved. It would probably be more certain and take less time to just do the work (unless you are already famous).
Wikipedia has a pretty good entry on the practice.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:21 AM on April 30, 2010
Wikipedia has a pretty good entry on the practice.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:21 AM on April 30, 2010
It's not about being famous, it's about doing something that the college or university feels is worth honoring.
There are many things you could do that are honorable. If you're looking for a shortcut, you could consider donating a lot of money to a college or university, or doing a lot of volunteering for the school in some critical capacity over a number of years so as to affect a change that would significantly alter the school for the better. Those things might warrant an honorary degree. Just be sure that you don't try to set up a quid pro quo in advance.
posted by alms at 11:23 AM on April 30, 2010
There are many things you could do that are honorable. If you're looking for a shortcut, you could consider donating a lot of money to a college or university, or doing a lot of volunteering for the school in some critical capacity over a number of years so as to affect a change that would significantly alter the school for the better. Those things might warrant an honorary degree. Just be sure that you don't try to set up a quid pro quo in advance.
posted by alms at 11:23 AM on April 30, 2010
Basically by being ridiculously awesome. Honorary degrees are the ways universities show incredible admiration.
This is almost way harder than actually earning the degree in question.
posted by valkyryn at 11:25 AM on April 30, 2010
This is almost way harder than actually earning the degree in question.
posted by valkyryn at 11:25 AM on April 30, 2010
My alma mater says "Honorary degrees are intended to recognize individuals who have made substantial contributions to society at the provincial, national and/or international levels."
Looking at the list of recipients (second link above), some of them are not famous, exactly, but I wouldn't say any of them are laypeople. Once we eliminate the people who could reasonably be considered famous (a prolific, critically-acclaimed author, a well-known actor/comedian, and an astronaut), we have
[Sheesh, Douglas Coupland AND Rick Mercer are going to be there? I wish they'd spoken at my grad.]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:54 AM on April 30, 2010
Looking at the list of recipients (second link above), some of them are not famous, exactly, but I wouldn't say any of them are laypeople. Once we eliminate the people who could reasonably be considered famous (a prolific, critically-acclaimed author, a well-known actor/comedian, and an astronaut), we have
- the CEO of the most recent Olympics
- two medical researchers
- a former Dean of Science
- a documentary filmmaker/advocate
- a mathematician/math educator
- an artist/art scholar
- an orchestra leader
- the Chief Technology Officer of a communications corporation
[Sheesh, Douglas Coupland AND Rick Mercer are going to be there? I wish they'd spoken at my grad.]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:54 AM on April 30, 2010
Out of curiosity, why do you want to get on that train? It's an honor to be recognized for your work, but honorary degrees don't MEAN anything besides that.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:00 PM on April 30, 2010
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:00 PM on April 30, 2010
Well, if nomad's profile didn't place him in Connecticut, I would almost say this sounded like something for the University of Chicago scav hunt.
Have you tried calling and asking?
posted by Carillon at 2:06 PM on April 30, 2010
Have you tried calling and asking?
posted by Carillon at 2:06 PM on April 30, 2010
Best answer: Do they have to be accredited? The (entirely meaningless, non-accredited) Doctor of Divinity degree from the Universal Life Church is yours for only $32.99.
(Disclosure: I have been canonized by the ULC. For free.)
posted by dr. boludo at 2:49 PM on April 30, 2010
(Disclosure: I have been canonized by the ULC. For free.)
posted by dr. boludo at 2:49 PM on April 30, 2010
You could get horribly burned by napalm, survive, then forgive your attackers.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 3:51 AM on May 1, 2010
posted by obiwanwasabi at 3:51 AM on May 1, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by brainmouse at 11:18 AM on April 30, 2010