Last Monday, Prof. Bernadette Brooten (NEJS) emailed a letter to University President Frederick Lawrence, expressing the concerns of several undersigned faculty members about the diversity of honorary degree recipients. Sixteen professors signed the letter.

The professors wrote that they were "dismayed that this year's list of honorary degree recipients is neither diverse nor inclusive," noting that "[o]f the six, none are persons of color, and only one is a woman." Lawrence, in his response, echoed this sentiment.

"Each year, I try to make sure that all of our values-including diversity-are reflected in our group of honorary degree recipients," wrote Lawrence in an email reply. "I, too, was disappointed that our honorary degree recipients' process this year did not result in a group that is more diverse and inclusive."

The co-signers of the letter included professors from various departments including Economics, the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, History, English, Classical Studies, Comparative Literature, Sociology and African and Afro-American Studies. All signers were part of the Women's and Gender studies faculty.

"The issue came up at a [Women's] and Gender Studies meeting and we did some research to better understand the history and patterns," explained Prof. Wendy Cadge (SOC) in an email to the Justice. "I signed the letter because I am concerned about the inequities in who receives honorary degrees."

"In the past ten years," the letter read, "men have received 73.2 [percent] of the honorary degrees from Brandeis. In only one year (2006) did an equal number of women and men receive honorary degrees, and in most years (6 of 10), only one woman received an honorary degree."

The letter went on to address the apparent lack of recognition of gender non-conforming persons, as well as the overall lack of diversity in award recipients at Brandeis.

Lawrence wrote that the diversity of the group each year depends upon whether or not the people who are invited to receive honorary degrees accept, as well as the diversity of the list of nominees.

"Going forward, we will refine our selection process and redouble our efforts to create a pool of potential nominees that is diverse, inclusive, and representative of the ideals we cherish," wrote Lawrence.

To do this, he clarified, both the honorary degree and commencement speaker invitations would be extended earlier, and Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid is in the process of updating the nominating system. Lawrence also hinted that efforts to diversify have already achieved "positive results that I cannot announce at this time."

Cadge wrote that she and other WGS faculty "plan to nominate a diverse slate of individuals in the future."

Prof. Faith Lois Smith (AAAS), who signed the letter and is also a faculty representative to the Board of Trustees and on the Provost's Committee on Diversity, indicated that nominations and invitations were only part of the problem.

"While we understand the President's constraints regarding extended invitations that are not accepted ... our letter indicates that the problem is more systemic," wrote Smith in an email to the Justice. "For many years now we have conceived of our ideal recipient for this and other awards as a man, and most often a white man.

"I believe that Brandeis' record of diversity does not currently match our rhetorical commitment to it," she continued. "We need more diversity in our curricular requirements, our undergraduate and graduate student body, our faculty, our administration, and our Board of Trustees."

Brooten wrote in an email to the Justice that she hoped to work with Lawrence to ensure that Brandeis' honorary degree and award recipients "reflect the ethnic and gender diversity that is central to who we are."

"I agree with the letter and [was] pleased to sign it," wrote Prof. Anita Hill (Heller), senior advisor to the provost, in an email to the Justice. "I look forward to working with my colleagues and the President on the future selection of honorees."

"I thought [Lawrence] took our concerns seriously and I look forward to working with him and other colleagues to improve the situation," added Cadge.

The honorary degree recipients this year were Vartan Gregorian, former president of Brown University and the New York Public Library; Ellsworth Kelly, the abstract painter, sculptor and printmaker whose paintings "Yellow Curves" (1954) and "Blue White" (1962) are part of the permanent collection of the Rose Art Museum; Chaim Peri, former director of Yemin Orde Wingate Youth Village in Haifa, Israel; Elaine Schuster, co-founder of the Elaine and Gerald Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis and a public delegate to the United Nations General Assembly; and Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of The New Republic and author of several works, both fiction and nonfiction.

According to the Office of Communications, all members of the Brandeis community may nominate candidates for honorary degrees.

A committee composed of trustees, faculty and staff submits a final list each year, which is subject to approval by the Board of Trustees. President Lawrence makes the final selection.