School votes to rebuke Zimbabwe leader

More than two decades after the University of Massachusetts gave President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe an honorary degree, trustees at the school voted yesterday to give him an official rebuke, but did not strip him of the award.

The board made the decision after reviewing a petition from the university's Student Senate that asked officials to take back the honorary degree awarded in 1986. However, the university has no policy for revoking special degrees.

"In the intervening and particularly recent years, his actions have prompted his being scorned worldwide as a tyrannical dictator whose rule has been marked by intimidation, violence, fraud, and robbery," the resolution said.

Trustee Ruben J. King-Shaw Jr. said that it made sense to issue some form of rebuke, but that it would be inappropriate to withdraw the award based on Mugabe's allegedly oppressive rule today.

"There was absolutely enough sentiment that was in condemnation of his current actions and his current situation in Zimbabwe," King-Shaw said. "The majority of the board members felt that at the time when Mugabe was awarded the degree it was well deserved."

The honorary degree process will be reviewed by the board, including a possible policy for revoking degrees, he said.

Wilbert Gwashavanhu, a spokesman for Zimbabwe's Embassy in Washington D.C., said Mugabe has 24 "unsolicited degrees" that are not of much value to him.

He said Americans are kept in the dark about Zimbabwe's positive international reputation and support for Mugabe. He is elected every five years in "free and fair" elections, and continues to be a champion for independence, especially from the Western economic powers, Gwashavanhu said.

"These students at the University of Massachusetts are wasting their time," he said.