Who Will Receive the Degrees This Year?

The various celebrities pictured above may very well meet in Cambridge in three weeks. If they do appear, the chances are they will be here to pick up a few of the honorary degrees offered annually by the University. At this point, just who the recipients will be remains the usual closely guarded secret.

Names of honorary winners have traditionally aroused speculation throughout the University. In the past, not the least of the speculators has been the CRIMSON. But this year, the CRIME will forego its own annual predictions, to open the first annual "Name the Honoraries" contest.

The contest will be open to all members of the University, and other readers of this paper, with certain exceptions. It will be closed to all members of the Corporation, their wives and relatives. It will also unfortunately be closed to those holding Corporation appointments, as well as to editors of the CRIMSON.

First prize for this first annual guessing bonanza will be $15.00. Second prize will consist of one slightly used and bedraggled Thresky Ibis. In case of a tie, that entrant most nearly picking the names of the three speakers from among his list will be declared the winner. The decision of the judges will be announced on Commencement Day, June 14, and will be final.

Participants should submit the names of fifteen selections, (the number of honoraries has been between 13 and 15 in the past four years) on a sheet of plain paper, to the CRIMSON office, at 14 Plympton Street. The contest will close on the final day of the term, June 5.

To aid in selections, the CRIMSON offers a few hints, culled from past lists of recipients, and suggests the names of a few of the possibilities for this year.

The main point to be kept in mind is that possibilities will come from a variety of fields. Thus, in the past, there has usually been at least one outstanding foreign leader. Two years ago, it was Robert Schuman; last year it Konrad Adenauer. The CRIMSON suggests that this year Secretary-General of the U.N. Dag Hammarskjold is likely to win an honorary degree.

Usually, the University offers at least one honorary LL.D. In 1953, for instance, both John W. Davis and Dean Griswold of the Law School received degrees. This year, chances would seem to be that both Felix Frankfurter and Earl Warren may receive degrees. Since Frankfurter is expected in Cambridge during Commencement Week, he would seem to be a strong choice.

It has became tradition in recent years that the Governor of Massachusetts receive a degree. James Michael Curley and Paul A. Dever contradicted this rule, but the odds are that outgoing Governor Christian A. Herter '15 will be honored. Participants in the contest might remember that Harvard graduates are usually favored.

Invariably, there are two or three outstanding faculty members nominated and duly approved by the Board of Overseers. This year, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., Francis Lee Higginson Professor emeritus, would seem to stand only a fair chance. Odds are somewhat better on Douglas W. Horton, Dean of the rising Divinity School, or traditional favorite Zechariah Chafee, Jr., University Professor, who retires this year.

Last year, the Corporation broke its long-standing rule of not awarding honorary degrees to women. Helen Keller was the first winner; this year, another uncontroversial woman such as Helen Hayes, who marks her fiftieth year in the theater, may win. A more controversial figure, but still a possibility, is Eleanor Roosevelt.

Other possibilities are: C. Douglas Dillon '31, First Marshal of his 25th year class and Ambassador to France; architect Frank Lloyd Wright; author Chiang Yee, who will deliver the Phi Beta Kappa address; Barnaby C. Keeney, new president of Brown; Henry Ford II; Edward R. Murrow; attorney Joseph N. Welch; Sinclair Weeks '14 will also be in town; retired military figure Mathew W. Ridgway; and around Harvard retiring Louis C. Bierweiler deserves consideration.