Just a Minute!

You don't need a degree to teach (5/15/09)

     The same university that has conferred honorary degrees upon Blake Edwards (for giving us Bo Derek and “10”) and Karsten Solheim (for giving us better golf clubs), considered President Barack Obama – a best-selling author, an expert in constitutional law and a world leader – to be a tad light in the résumé.

     Granted, Arizona State University’s “body of work” defense in not giving Obama an honorary degree at its commencement Wednesday is the kind of flimsy excuse humorists like Art Buchwald or Steve Allen, were they still with us, would have enjoyed skewering (though possibly at the risk of forfeiting their own honorary degrees from ASU).

     Obama said the flap over his not getting an honorary degree was “much ado about nothing,” and he’s right.

     “I come to embrace the notion that I haven’t done enough in my life,” the president said, turning the university’s disdain to his advantage. “I come to affirm that one’s title, even a title like President of the United States, says very little about how well one’s life has been led.”

     Obama understands that honorary degrees are meaningless ceremonial fluff, and that far more meaningful are lessons imparted by a confident leader who can turn a perceived slight into a teaching moment.

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