UMass chief asks degree be rescinded

Responds to urging of a key legislator

By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff | May 13, 2008

University of Massachusetts president Jack M. Wilson backed growing calls yesterday to rescind an honorary degree awarded to President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, who is facing international scorn and sanctions for his authoritarian regime's bloody campaign against political opponents.

Wilson, after pressure by a state lawmaker, recommended that the UMass board of trustees strip Mugabe of a doctor of laws degree he received at UMass-Amherst in 1986. It would be the first time the board has revoked an honorary degree.

"In the two decades that have passed since the honorary degree was awarded, Robert Mugabe has pursued policies and taken actions that are antithetical to the values and beliefs of the University of Massachusetts," Wilson said in a statement. "I must recommend that we sever the connection that was formed when Robert Mugabe appeared to be a force for positive change in Africa. Today, that promise no longer exists."

In June, trustees voted to rebuke Mugabe for policies and practices that have "brought worldwide scorn" on him, but stopped short of revoking the degree. The 22-member board plans to meet June 12 at UMass-Lowell.

Trustee James J. Karam said that he supports stripping the degree and that universities should be cautious in awarding honorary degrees to international politicians.

"Many times, today's patriot is tomorrow's terrorist," he said.

Representative Kevin J. Murphy, the House chairman of the Joint Committee on Higher Education, had called for UMass to revoke the degree in light of escalating state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe. Yesterday, he praised Wilson's decision.

"I'm thrilled that president Wilson has lent his support to calls for revoking President Mugabe's degree," he said. "The University of Massachusetts has always prided itself on being a forward-thinking member of the global community, and it is an honor to support Zimbabwe's people in any way we can."

Sunday, Murphy told the Globe that continuing to honor Mugabe despite recent evidence he has terrorized dissidents in a brutal campaign to retain power "runs contrary to every value the University of Massachusetts holds dear."

In a May 9 letter to Wilson, Murphy denounced Mugabe as "an affliction on the people of Zimbabwe."

Yesterday, Mugabe's government said it will bar foreign observers from monitoring the vote unless international sanctions are lifted, and the main opposition party said police arrested a newly elected member of parliament.

Mugabe's government has targeted supporters of Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai since Mugabe lost the first stage of a presidential election in March.

Tsvangirai announced Saturday he would return to Zimbabwe to participate in a run-off election despite escalating violence.

Last year, the University of Edinburgh in Scotland rescinded an honorary degree it had awarded Mugabe, and students at Michigan State University, which awarded Mugabe a degree in 1990, have unsuccessfully pressed officials to do the same.

Mugabe, who came to power in 1980, was then seen as a force for democracy, and Wilson said the degree was "given in good faith."

But some observers say that Mugabe was guilty of human rights abuses throughout his time in power and that in 1986 he had a history of violence against his people.