Today’s Globe has a story about a state rep wanting to strip Zimbabwean strongman Robert Mugabe of the honorary degree UMass awarded him back in 1986. This effort has been underway, in one form or another, for well over a year; the university’s board has resisted previous attempts to revoke the degree because it has no established process to take such an action, and because it doesn’t want to politicize the degrees.
I wrote about the UMass-Boston student effort to revoke Mugabe’s degree in the Dig last June. That story gave me the unique opportunity to see a megalomaniac’s organization in action. I called up the Zimbabwean embassy in Washington and spoke to some nameless true believer. It really was one of the most bizarre conversations I’ve ever had.
He suggested that the revocation of the degree would have no effect on Mugabe, and would only tarnish the university, since Mugabe never asked for the degree. The only reason the school sought out Mugabe in the first place, this official insisted, was to enhance its own standing by associating itself with the great president. He added,
We’ve heard about this, and we’re not concerned. This is an unsolicited honor that was bestowed upon the president. To take it back, what difference does that have for the president? This is a losing game. There is no point to losing an honorary degree that was conferred 20 years back. The international organizations are very much behind Mugabe. It is only the US, UK and EU pushing this agenda. These are undeniable facts. These students have not contacted us. We would like to talk to them and enlighten them. They seem to not understand. They’re just obsessed. Their opinions are shaped by the media; they should access credible information. If they can’t glean credible information, I don’t see them as very competent students.
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