David Tyree Susan Cole for Grand Marshal

How do ya'll feel about honorary degrees in general? A while back on here, there was a discussion about Ph.D.s, that how in some cases, they've lost their value. I never liked the idea of a university or college giving a degree to someone who never attended said school. It's seems useless to me and dilutes the value of getting a degree.

For me the question is, has anyone with an "honorary degree" used it to advance his or her career in education?

I can't imagine being on a search committee where we need a Ph.D and deciding that an "honorary" Ph. D was good enough.

That said, many who are awarded such a degree might be hired based on other, non-educational reasons.

To that point, I can't imagine a art program turning Mr. Baryshnikov down because he doesn't have a terminal degree... (I don't know if he does).

Likewise with Mr. Newmark.

For the Bearded Wonder however, I don't see any value in anything he does.

Good points, Prof. Yeah, I think it's safe to say that most people living in the Free World know who Baryshnikov is. He don't need no stinkin' degree. I know WHY schools do it (P.O.L.I.T.I.C.S), I just question the sense of it all. If I busted my butt getting a degree, I'd be a mite ticked if someone got one based on his/her celebrity and/or $$$ to throw around.

I agree with Miss Martta. I've always questioned the point of an honorary degree. It does knock those who work hard for their degrees.

Anyone who receives an honorary degree is honor-bound to note that fact. That some may not is probably a fact, but it is not hard to find out who did and did not do the work involved in getting the degree.
When schools look for personnel, they specify an "earned doctorate" or terminal degree. Many would draw the line -- rightly, in my view -- at those "earned" from on-line schools and degree mills.

Agreed. But I think that that's the "payment" for it. That and a MSU hooded sweatshirt!

(Of course, this gets MSU in the press. So for any school, having cool graduation speakers is one other thing to get attention. I imagine Jon Stewart and Mr. Colbert were in demand for this very reason- please don't take this as a kind word about either.)

Here's a GREAT list of 2008 graduation speakers. It's also searchable back to 2000.

(Curiously, no Stewart or Colbert...)

Star Jones? STAR JONES???

Sheesh!

Maybe she's speaking at the stomach stapling college graduation...

Montclair should NOT honor MSU in any way. Under Susan Cole, the so-called university has been a terrible neighbor. It would like nothing more than to take over great chunks of residential neighborhoods in the north end of town and turn them into campus housing and the like. Cole and MSU have allowed the historic Bond House to rot while erecting hideous new structures on campus. Cole is bad news. She deserves no honors from Montclair.

One point is that more effort needs to be made to make MSU a better university. It's sad how NJ's best exports seem to be it's brightest students.