Northwestern University’s decision to rescind an invitation to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright to receive an honorary degree was the last straw for many Black alumni, who have started an online petition that calls for changes to how the university treats Black students and the Black community, including an investigation into the decrease in Black student enrollment.
Although the petition, with nearly 1,500 signatures as of Thursday, asks the administration to award Wright the honorary degree as originally planned at the university’s commencement Friday, the petition really is about correcting injustices, says Ce Cole Dillon, president of Northwestern’s Black Alumni Association and member of the university’s Alumni Association Board of Directors. In addition to the decreasing Black enrollment — Blacks made up 9.6 percent of the undergraduate student body in 1976 compared to 5.5 percent in 2005 — they say the university is acting insensitive and rules aren’t applied consistently when it comes to Blacks.
Alumni decry the decision to withdraw the university’s offer of an honorary Doctorate of Sacred Theology degree to Wright as unilateral, since it was not discussed in a review committee. During the past few months, parts of Wright’s controversial sermons were aired as people questioned the Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s past and his relationship with Wright.
“In light of the controversy around Dr. Wright and to ensure that the celebratory character of commencement not be affected, the University has withdrawn its invitation to Dr. Wright,” stated a message from Northwestern’s vice president for university relations, Alan K. Cubbage, posted on the university’s Web site.
Meanwhile, Northwestern’s president Henry Bienen announced that Richard M. Daley, mayor of Chicago, would be the speaker at the university’s commencement and would receive an honorary doctor of law degree.
Though Daley is a household name in Chicago, in the Black community his name brings up a painful memory. When Daley was Cook County state’s attorney in the 1980s, he allegedly failed to investigate allegations that some Chicago police tortured Black men into confessing crimes they did not commit. In January, the city approved a nearly $20 million settlement with four former death row inmates who alleged a former police commander and others tortured them. A federal probe is underway into allegations that police tortured more than 100 people over a 20-year period.
“When the university made those decisions they were not applying the same standards all across the board,” says Dillon. “This is where the lens of racism comes in. Rev. Wright is accused of committing a crime of being unpatriotic,” while Daley is accused of failing to act when learning that Black men were subject to real criminal offenses.
