1014



HONORARY DEGREES



(Board of Trustees Meeting, October 24, 1976)



At an earlier meeting of the Board of Trustees, a report had

been requested concerning the award of honorary degrees. This

report was presented at this meeting by the President,



He began his report by stating the request which had been

received from the Board, and he then gave a brief history of the

awarding of honorary degrees by American colleges and universities.

He talked about the types of degrees which are commonly awarded,

and he raised questions concerning basic guidelines which the

Board would need to adopt if the College were to begin the practice



of awarding honorary degrees.



Discussion of the basic decision whether to go ahead or not

followed, and after careful consideration, the Board elected to

postpone further action on this subject for the immediate future.



It was the consensus of the members of the Board that an

affirmative decision concerning this matter, if it were to be made,

should be made at a future date and that for the present the

College should not undertake to award honorary degrees. The award—

ing of honorary degrees was distinguished, however, from awards for

meritorious accomplishment, and this avenue of recognition for

distinguished service to the College was not precluded by this



action of the Board.