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109 Comments
- NinjaBoy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+165"honoroary degrees are meaningless."
If you are the richest man in the world, any degree is meaningless - Popdmb, on 10/12/2007, -8/+101Who needs a degree when you're Microsoft certified?
/major sarcasm - RooDoG, on 10/12/2007, -1/+59That will look good on his resume
- haveacigar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+45Good for him... now he can finally get his dream job..
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+41it's just a plug for Harvard, like bill really give a damn. Harvard don't want their motto to be "hey drop out of our school, you can be a billionaire" . Now they can say "Hey, go to Harvard, it's where the richest man in the world gets his degree"
- trghpy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+39Todays headline: Gates to get Harvard Degree.
Tomarrows headline: Harvard to get new campus. - fishrjv, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27And it only took him 23 years.
Those tuition bills are gonna be a bitch. - theorb77, on 10/12/2007, -5/+29@hemphill81
Defending sloppy grammar based on "it's my right to be lazy"? Carry on, I'm sure it will get you far in life, too. - reed311, on 10/12/2007, -0/+24The reason they did this is so he can be considered an Alumni and they can now call him and harass him for donations constantly.
- hemphill81, on 10/12/2007, -9/+33Correction after leaving Harvard.
- mhockey14221, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24Basket Weaving
- cderry, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24Ironically, Hemphill81's only hope is an honorary degree of some kind.
- jonashwing, on 10/12/2007, -8/+25for the love of god PROOF READ your submissions.
btw, the sentence should read: "and will receive AN honorary doctorate." - Eska, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18underwater basket weaving
- flag564, on 10/12/2007, -5/+21If it was Steve Jobs I'll bet you would care.
- theblooms, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17"nonesense"? No way man.
No matter what you think of Microsoft or Bill Gates, you must admit that he does good for the world. I think he has given away, what? BILLIONS to charity!
He is a good guy, even if some of his software sucks ass. - catmistake, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17ah... the 34-year degree plan... that guy really has it together... (I should have studied)
- DesiGUY, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Wonder in what is he getting the degree? Computer Science?
- CedEx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I'd be pissed if he qualified for student loans!
- Philluminati, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Business Studies I'd imagine
- krellor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13@master
Oh noes, Gates made money through cut throat business practices? Like the rest of corporate America, and the world at large? So your going to suddenly begrudge Gates for doing what everyone else tried to do? Seriously, he went out on a limb, left school, started his own company, and got rich. That about sums up the entrepreneurial American dream. And if Harvard wants to recognize his success, why not, he certainly has made some big changes to the world.
Besides, who cares how his charity money was made as long as it gets to people who need it? Are you going to begrudge the recipients the money now too because Gates was a cut throat business man? - matts0344, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Its ok, I'm sure he'll find a way to pay for it.
- boituma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Exactly. Gates gets a diploma; Harvard gets a whole lotta KA-CHING.
- DannyJGA, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11An honorary degree from Havard is pointless? Do you know anyone personally that has qualified for such an honor? Do you know anyone that was invited to speak to the graduating class at any University on par with Harvard?
An honorary degree is generally given to recognize a person's life long accomplishments, and is, at least from any reputable school, much more difficult to acquire, and rare, then a regular doctorate. People with real degrees petition and and lobby such schools constantly for similar recognition.
Unlike a regular degree, which basically aknowledges your POTENTIAL to do something, an honorary degree honors your actual achievements.
Talk about a comment born of ignorance and envy. - TheMidnight, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12Honorary degrees are actually a privilege. Even scientists and professors who already have prestigous, real degrees such as a PhD or LD sometimes get honorary degrees from other institutions when they do something truly great, such as from their undergraduate alma mater or the flagship university in their home state.
Bill Gates will be honored by such a distinguished award, even if it is the world's richest man getting a piece of paper from the world's richest university. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Wow! Your envy is almost palpable, my friend!
- eleventybillion, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Obligatory rant about the downfall of society as a result of the decay of grammatical and compositional skills.
Obligatory rant about the Hah-vahd degree that is or is not meaningless to Mr. Gates Jr.
Statement of feigned surprise that he did not patronize his father's beloved University of Washington for his doctorate.
Comment about thinly-veiled sarcasm.
Personal attack on Mac fanboiz.
Personal attack on Microsoft fanboiz.
Witty ending comment. - brjndr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Maya Angelou spoke at my school once, and mentioned how meaningless honorary degrees were. She said she had over 100 of them.
Also, she was way taller than I thought, at least 6 feet. - adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8After reading that I have an image in my head of Bill Gates playing Kevin Spaceys role in American Beauty where he's trying to get the job at the fast food joint.
- aarons44, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Not always. It depends on the institution. Some institutions award them to people as a way to get a lot of money, e.g. "We'll give you this degree, and you give us $10 million to build a new building." But you're right, Harvard probably isn't one of those school. Reputable schools generally have a lengthy approval process that candidates go through, and technically, an Honorary Doctorate is a legitimate degree, usually a "Doctorate of Letters" or "Doctorate of the University". You can call yourself a doctor after receiving one, although you have to use the special notation (often D.Lett) or say "Honorary Doctorate".
- cderry, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Shoot the hostage.
- macfanboi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"it's just a plug for Harvard, like bill really give a damn. Harvard don't want their motto to be "hey drop out of our school, you can be a billionaire" . Now they can say "Hey, go to Harvard, it's where the richest man in the world gets his degree""
It doesn't matter, history will always be the guy that dropped out of Harvard to become the wealthiest man in the world. - phunlee, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Seriously, I can't digg the story. The grammar is unforgivably bad.
- tdmckee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Yeah - I agree, honorary degrees are totally useless. That's why I prefer MIT to Harvard - MIT awards no honorary degrees. If you have a degree from MIT, you've earned it, through lots of pain and suffering - not through getting rich by squashing your business competition.
- CornStarch, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7He's completely deserving of a Harvard business degree, just not a Harvard computer science degree.
- Wrathernaut, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Who wouldn't want to list 'ol Bill on their list of graduates?
The "Honorary Degree" is nothing more than name-dropping by colleges, and perhaps the hope for some alumni donations as well. - zachblume, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Guy trying to be witty after the witty comment, just ruins it.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11honorary degrees are pointless. So is this digg.
- m0tbaillie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Actually, it is considered a huge faux pas to call yourself a doctor of any kind if you receive and honorary doctorate. Walk up to a professor who has spent the better part of their lives and academia and ask them what they think of someone with an honorary degree calling themselves a doctor, even an "honorary" one.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6C'mon, I know you can troll better than that.
- slantyyz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Generally, if you give a speech at any university commencement, you're given an honorary degree. Sure, Harvard may be more selective than other schools, but you have to remember that honorary degrees are nothing special and not necessarily a reflection of intelligence.
Even Dubya has at least one honorary degree. At least Dubya did complete a real MBA, from Harvard, no less. - Elranzer, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8George W Bush also has a degree from Harvard...
- Chickenlip, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Honorary degrees are *****...
My sister graduated from Stanford circa 1988, and they tried to get Bill "puddin'pop" Cosby to speak at the commencement. He told Stanford he would do it, only if they gave him an honorary doctorate, which they refused.
These days I hear people talk about how brilliant Cosby is, because he has some 18-odd doctorates. What a load of crap. I will agree that Cosby is one damn brilliant character, but it has nothing to do with his phony-bologna degrees. - stgabriel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I work at Harvard and have a lot of first hand experience with students here. They are regular students like anywhere else - often just from more privileged backgrounds than me and most of the people with whom i went to university. The education of a Harvard degree or PhD is about as meaningful as any degree or PhD from any other university in the world. Believe me, you can skate by being Joe Average here just like anywhere else. Harvard is just a gimmicky place. An 'honorary' degree from Harvard is in reality no more meaningful than from your local college.
- trghpy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@Elranzer
Bush graduated too..
What does that say about Harvard? - johanrocks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I wonder how much he paid them to do that.
- eleventybillion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Just like his father.
- NeoCortex, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Speaking as a current PhD student who is working his ass off, honorary degrees piss me off. If you want to give them some sort of acknowledgement or recognition, fine. Just don't call it a degree.
- marcus4132, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why would he want to?
- theblooms, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Even Dubya has at least one honorary degree."
Yup, from my Alma Matter, USC. He gave my commencement speech in 2003. No matter what you think of his politics, or any other President's for that matter, respect the Office. To have the President of the United States give your college commencement speech is cool as hell. -
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