A faculty leader is urging University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella to reverse his plan of cutting off Faculty Senate participation, while keeping input from individual faculty, in deciding who receives honorary UA degrees.
Honorary degrees are academic awards given by universities to recognize individuals’ significant contributions to a field or society.
Faculty Chair Leila Hudson criticized a Nov. 17 memo from Garimella’s office introducing a new policy eliminating the Faculty Senate’s “executive session and confidential review,” including votes in closed sessions, as part of the process of awarding such degrees.
Hudson
Hudson told the Faculty Senate Monday she is proposing a motion that will be voted on in February urging Garimella and his delegates to continue the process of granting honorary degrees that the UA has used for more than two decades. She said it is “consistent with the academic tradition of the faculty approving and recommending all degrees (earned and honorary) through regular and agreed upon protocols.”
UA spokesperson Mitch Zak later told the Star, “The University of Arizona’s updated honorary degree protocol is consistent with its peer institutions. Faculty are formally included in the process, nominee vetting is strengthened through a structured review, and final responsibility rests with the president.”
Hudson’s motion says the Faculty Senate’s role in the process “has prevented abuse and embarrassment to the University and the Arizona Board of Regents, and has yielded world-class cohorts of honorary doctorates that recognize individuals whose extraordinary achievements reflect the values and excellence of the University of Arizona community and mission.”
She told the Faculty Senate: “On the one hand, the administration is making policy outside of our shared governance processes. That in itself is a problem ... Faculty Senate and shared governance are being cut out of policymaking; that flies in the face of regulations. So, we want no more policymaking without 30-day review periods, at the very least, and preferably active consultation with faculty governance.”
The motion also urges Garimella and his delegates to “refrain from attempting to unilaterally change policy, especially academic and personnel policy without transparency, public review, or consultation with the elected representatives of the faculty.”
UA Secretary of the Faculty Katie Zeiders, who chairs the Honorary Degrees Advisory Committee, said, “There are faculty still involved in the process — so the process will include Regents professors, myself of course. But most certainly, on the senate level, this is where we won’t be. There won’t be a final vote on that and that is what I have disapproved of.”
Hudson said, “You might say that honorary degrees are highly symbolic. They’re something of a bell and a whistle, a frill on the serious business of granting academic degrees. I would submit to you that any degree, whether it is earned or honorary, real or symbolic, cannot be outside the purview of the elected representatives of the faculty.”
In 2024, for example, the UA conferred honorary degrees to:
- Steve Kerr (Doctor of Humanities): Former UA basketball standout, NBA champion coach, and philanthropist.
- Ann Z. Kerr-Adams (Doctor of Humane Letters): Coordinator for visiting Fulbright scholars, recognized for her work in Middle Eastern studies and diplomacy.
- Craig T. Nelson (Doctor of Fine Arts): Actor, director, and UA alumnus who delivered the 2024 commencement address.
- Humberto S. Lopez (Doctor of Humane Letters): Founder of HSL Properties and longtime university supporter.
- Bruce Taylor (Doctor of Science): CEO of Taylor Fresh and agricultural industry leader.
