President Waterbury Receives Honorary Degree

Left to right: Chair Morris, Pamuk, Waterbury, Ashrawi, Hatoum, Khan, and Tohme

The last honorary degree ceremony presided over by outgoing President John Waterbury broke with tradition. As the proceedings were drawing to a close, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Thomas Morris took the podium, congratulated the president on his ten successful years at the helm of AUB, and presented him with the University's honorary doctorate in humane letters.

Visibly startled, President Waterbury offered a few words of surprised thanks, saying that there was no university in the world from which he would rather receive an honorary degree. "At functions all over the world," he remarked, "I would always be surrounded by people who either had graduated from the University or had cousins who had. Now I can say that I am a graduate of this University too. I am grateful beyond words." As they left the hall, members of the audience received a copy of an extensive Waterbury biography.

This year's honorary doctorate recipients were unusually strong representatives of human rights and the human being's deep commitment to an understanding of the self and the environment. Hanan Ashrawi, known for her committed contributions to the Palestinian Peace Process and ongoing involvement in Palestinian society, politics, and culture, recalled in her acceptance speech "the privilege and provocation of a unique educational and life experience" at AUB, where she had earned both her BA and MA in English literature. Underscoring the shared struggles of Palestine, AUB, and Lebanon, she said: "Nothing, dear friends, can match the power of an undefeated human spirit, simultaneously subject to the fragility and vulnerability of the human condition, yet tenaciously persistent in its struggle to engage and transform reality as a source of value and a force for change."

This tenacious persistence of the undefeated human spirit can be seen in the life work of this year's other honorary degree recipients: Mona Hatoum, the Beirut-born, Palestinian-British artist who through her art work startles the world with her uncomfortable commentary on the world's comforts; Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International, a tireless pursuer of human rights and justice around the globe; Orhan Pamuk, Turkish Nobel Prize-winning novelist, who only this January faced once again death threats for his bold stand on freedom of expression; and Georges Tohmé, president of the board of Lebanon's National Council for Scientific Research, who has devoted his life to education and the protection and preservation of the natural environment of Lebanon.

In the acceptance speeches, Mona Hatoum recalled her failed attempt to enter AUB and named family members who were former faculty members; Irene Khan, quoting Eleanor Roosevelt, insisted that recognition of human rights begins in small places, close to home; Orhan Pamuk spoke about why writers write: "to address problems of the heart and the problems of humanity"; and Georges Tohmé, "a pioneer in environmental studies and environmental awareness in Lebanon," described his work in establishing natural preserves in Lebanon and evaluating their flora and fauna.