Arizona State University won't give Obama honorary degree despite protests

Give him an honorary degree in what? Sharon Keller is right, he hasn't done enough to warrant it. If this was racist, he probably wouldn't have been asked to speak in the first place.

Apparently I'm a racist because I didn't vote for him. ASU are racists because they won't honor him with a degree. I guess we have 2 choices: Worship at 0bama's feet, or be a racist.

Oh that horrible University will not acknowledge Obama's 'divinity' or 'godlike' status. Boo hoo! How terrible! Well he has not been around for that long and the only reason is to acknowledge that he is a wonderful person. An honorary degree is given to someone who accomplished something great or had a lot of achievements not to the first man of a certain ethnic group who became a - His minions want him to get an honorary degree because of race. They will accept nothing less. Then they will have their belief that "we came out of Africa" confirmed.

i don't think they should hand out honorary degrees to anybody period. other people worked and paid for those degrees,it's not fair to them.

I think we're all being tagged as racist. I heard comparing Michelle to Oprah is racist. Pretty soon I'll be accused of being racist because my son has blond hair and blue eyes. Good for ASU. I hope they don't back down to pressure and stick by their convictions!

Because the president has only been in office for a few months and the standard at ASU has been to award these honorary degrees based on a person's contributions over the course of a person's career, I agree with their decision. Obama is at the very beginning of his career as President of the United States and I don't know of any instances where a newly elected president received this honor by them so, no, I don't believe that he deserves it yet nor do I believe that race is a factor. I rarely, if ever, read the comments posted under hard news stories on the web. Just because someone has the ability to add their views on something to a site does not mean that what they have posted is worth reading. Of course some folks are going to object to ASU's policy. There are those who are blind to issues...on both sides.

I'll answer your last question first, Teskr; I know I'm ONE person on myLot who hadn't even considered race to be a factor and I actually hadn't heard anyone else say that either. Personally I've always thought honorary degrees to be rather silly and meaningless and I think your wife is probably absolutely right, they're given so they can get "important people" for free. I guess my question would be, if someone is that important, why would an honorary degree mean anything to them? You wrote, "I'm also glad to see they have higher standards than some universities who just throw these degrees at anyone who speaks there." Fair enough, but how do you compare previous recipients of honorary degrees to President Obama? "Barry Goldwater received his honorary degree in May 1961, three years before his Republican nomination for president and only eight years into his three decades as a U.S. senator. Sandra Day O'Connor was similarly recognized just three years in her 25 years on the U.S. Supreme Court." I'm not saying for one second either of them should not have gotten them but I'm asking YOU if you think they were deserving and the President of the United States is not. By the way, I heard it's possible ASU may reconsider. I haven't heard any more about it since last evening so I'm not sure if they actually have or not. Annie

I don't see the point in the honorary degree's for 0bama or anyone else. To me it kind of makes a mockery of the ppl that actually worked their way through the college and earned their degree's. As to the speaking by important ppl, I read an article recently that a college wanted Michelle 0bama to speak at their college. They set up a Facebook account in her honor, sent dozens of gifts and cards to her and basically pleaded with her to speak...she finally agreed. I think that's stupid. She should have felt honored to even be asked just the same as these other ppl. Obviously the ppl asking them think enough of them to ask and then they make them plead and beg before agreeing. Not saying their all like that but some are. I think that if their decent ppl that care about others and about sharing what they've learned, they'll jump at the chance to speak. Personally, I haven't seen 0bama do anything that even remotely suggests he deserves a degree in anything. [b]~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~ **STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]

Maybe America wasn't quite ready yet for a black president or president of color, however you want to label it. If any criticism and any non-favorable action is simply discarded as racist, we in fact took a giant leap backwards. So his inauguration date will not be remembered as the day we overcame yet another racial hurdle but a date on which racial tensions took a turn for the worse in several decades. People need to stop that and look at things the way they are. To use one of the quotes of the Obama supporters, 'he hasn't even been in office yet for 100 days, give him time to accomplish something'. Honorary degrees are traditionally handed out to mark a life's work and major accomplishment by an individual. Yes, nowadays they are thrown at people left and right, sometimes for as simple things of making a major donation to the school, even if otherwise the person is an complete moron. Still, the latest trend should not dictate that Obama now automatically should get honorary degrees. It's not like the school said he'll never get one, just that he has really not been in office long enough and hasn't accomplished anything really yet in the position of President. If I understand it correctly, it's not their tradition to hand one to the new president right away anyway. So really, what is the big deal in not giving him one this year? Really, some people need to start separating and/or their idolization of Obama from the issue at hand and not immediately start calling foul because Obama didn't get what he wanted or in their eyes deserved. So how many honorary degrees will be dealt out to him this year anyway?

Why does he even need an hoary degree anyway? He gets jobs even though he hands in blank applications.

I have always thought the honorary degree thing a bit silly. I guess it is just a cool token to give someone as a sign of respect. Considering Arizona's history where African Americans are concerned I am not suprised. He will just have to do his thing and be recognized for his contributions as they come.

I don't see why Obama deserves a degree. He already has enough anyway, LOL, this should be no big deal. If he did get a degree, what type would it be?