Star Power

Everything seems to be about star power at USC. Will Ferrell will give the commencement speech. Now an honorary degree is going to actress Helen Mirren. That means two of six honorary degrees go to film stars. Willow Bay is head of the communications school. Lynn Swann is athletic director. You get the picture.

Other honorary degrees go to: social work leader Suzanne Dworak-Peck; David Ho, founding director and CEO of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center; biomedical pioneer Gary Michelson; and Mark Ridley-Thomas, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

13 thoughts on “Star Power

  1. Exactly, because no other school has ever given out honorary degrees to celebrities. Harvard has never given honorary degrees to Oprah Winfrey in 2013, or Placido Domingo in 2011, or Meryl Streep in 2010, or Steven Spielberg in 2016, or Aretha Franklin in 2014, or J.K. Rowling in 2009.

    Nope, never ever ever.

    #oblvioustrolling

    • Good point. In addtion, most observers would consider USC to be more prominent in, and more proximate to, the entertainment industry than is Harvard, i.e., it’s more of a reach for Harvard to give an award or degree to an entertainment figure.

    • And USC has not rescinded the honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree they bestowed on Bill Cosby in 1998.

  2. “Everything seems to be about star power at USC”?

    My father used to reprimand me when I would use universal language i.e. You are ALWAYS criticizing me, pop.

    I guess Scottie never had a father like I had.

  3. Let me break it down for you, Scottie. There’s this place – not so far away from the USC campus – called Hollywood. The entertainment industry (TV & Film) is essentially based in USC’s backyard. So if by contrast to Wichita State or U-Dub, USC has a few more entertainment industry-related speakers, etc., you now know why. Let me know if I can help out in the future.

  4. Come on. Dazzling Tom Selleck. World Series Pitcher Bill Lee, LB Tim Rossovich. Frank Gifford. The Duke, John Wayne. Shucks. I bet Actor/General Jimmy Stewart took evening classes at USC to up grade his “on camera” skills and ! believe we had a USC grad On The Moon.

  5. Actually, the Will Ferrell announcement is quite the departure from recent commencement speakers. Usually, USC received some huge named donation and the donor speaks (or in the case of George Lucas, his wife spoke). I wonder if Ferrell is making a huge donation or if they didn’t have another donation coming in so they went the entertainer route.

    So, to correct this, it is not star power but donations which “everything” is about. That makes USC like pretty much every school in the country.

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