HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES

Oxford Honors Presidents of Harvard and Yale

President Neil L. Rudenstine receives his honorary degree in Oxford University's Convocation House from the Chancellor of the University, Lord Jenkins of Hillhead (center).

The presidents of Harvard and Yale, joined by the common bond of having attended Oxford University as Rhodes Scholars, received honorary degrees from Oxford on Nov. 23 for their contributions to education.

The ceremony was part of a special celebration of the longstanding links that unite Oxford with the world's leading universities.

Speaking in Latin during a noontime ceremony at Convocation Hall, Oxford Public Orator Jasper Griffin described President Neil L. Rudenstine as "a man of true humanity, scholarly in literature, judicious and powerful in action."

Yale President Richard C. Levin was described as "an outstanding economist, a great academic leader, and a highly valued public adviser." Both presidents received the Degree of Doctor of Civil Law by Diploma from Oxford Chancellor Lord Jenkins of Hillhead.

"It was an honor as well as a real pleasure to return to Oxford and see many old friends," said Rudenstine. In a light moment during the ceremony, Griffin took note of Rudenstine's Oxford acquaintances saying "there are still those who remember him at play with a baseball, menacing, but not damaging, the medieval glass."

Dressed in the traditional Oxford attire for such occasions - a scarlet robe with a black velvet bonnet - Rudenstine and Levin processed side-by-side across the Quad, past some of the most famous and picturesque Oxford sights - Wren's Sheldonian Theatre and the Old Bodleian Library - to Convocation House, the dark, wood-paneled building where the national parliament met during times of plague in London.

The procession was led by the University Marshal, and included six beadles carrying silver maces.

The ceremony inside - with room for only 100 people and spoken entirely in Latin - began with a short introduction by the Chancellor. In separate moments beginning with Levin, each president took his turn standing by the Orator as he faced the Chancellor at the front of the room. The Orator spoke of highlights of the president's career. The Chancellor then "admitted" the president as Doctor of Civil Law, after which he was led up to the Chancellor and presented with a scroll.

After awarding the degrees in front of the audience, which included the Heads of House of the Oxford colleges, Chancellor Jenkins concluded with a short speech in English saying he was honoring Rudenstine's and Levin's personal links with Oxford and the historic bonds among the three universities.

The degree party was then led through the rear door to the adjoining Divinity School. The vaulted ceiling in this 500-year-old building is regarded as one of the architectural jewels of Oxford and contains nearly 100 coats of arms from the 15th century. The American Ambassador in London was part of a reception for the honorands and their families. The festivities concluded with a lunch at Brasenose College.

Past recipients of Oxford honorary degrees include President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan and Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic. Harvard philosopher John Rawls and former Harvard Law School Dean Erwin Griswold also are past honorary degree recipients.

Oxford estimates that of the 270 senior American scholars currently at British universities, 20 percent are at Oxford. There are currently more than 600 Americans studying at Oxford.

"As Oxford has always enjoyed a friendly rivalry with Cambridge, so has Harvard with Yale. Today, however, there is no trace of that, but only perfect harmony," said Griffin. "No more compelling evidence could exist of the close connections which we in Oxford enjoy with the leading universities of America than the fact that Dr. Neil Rudenstine, too, is one of us."