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Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 12:42 PM Subject: Vine Deloria refuses honorary degree
Subject: Taking a Stand (leaders)
The Denver Post diane carman Scholar: CU "honor" no compliment By Diane Carman Denver Post Columnist
Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - Vine Deloria Jr. doesn't shrink from controversy. The retired University of Colorado-Boulder history professor and author of several books, including the bestselling "Custer Died for Your Sins," testified for the defense in Russell Means' 1974 Wounded Knee trial. He stood up to the state of Washington in the 1970s over the bloody Indian fishing-rights conflict that finally forced the federal government to reaffirm long-ignored treaties. And he has famously criticized Christianity, which he calls "a religion at the end of its rope." So when the University of Colorado regents selected Deloria to receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree this year, they were prepared for him to be outspoken. But probably not at their own expense. Last week, the man Time magazine called one of the 11 most influential thinkers of the 20th century refused the honorary degree. "It's no honor to be connected to these people," he said. CU has demeaned itself. "I am greatly disturbed by the actions of university officials and the board of regents in such a transparent coverup of the alleged scandals in the athletic department," he said in a letter to CU president Elizabeth Hoffman." As a scholar, I am dismayed at the use of language to obscure the facts and the intent to continue practices that reflect badly on the university." The final straw, he said in an interview, was the regents "recognizing the parents of the football players and not saying a word about the women who really suffered." He called it "an outrage." Regent Susan Kirk was disappointed. "It's his right to decline," she said. "But the bestowing of an honorary degree should be bigger than the smaller issues we face from time to time." To Deloria, though, the issues are huge. He said CU's effort to duck responsibility in the recruiting scandal is just another example of a shameful and increasingly common practice in America. "Nobody in this society ever gets punished except the people at the bottom, he said. "We're running amok in Iraq, but it turns out nobody knew what was going on" in Abu Ghraib prison. "The Catholic Church has all this pedophile abuse, and none of the bishops knew what was happening." Similarly, he said, coaches and administrators at CU claim they didn't know about the use of sex, drugs and alcohol to attract football recruits. "That's no excuse. They should know what's going on. None of them is willing to accept the blame." Deloria said that hiding behind plausible deniability "only serves to increase the cynicism of the people that higher-ups will always weasel out of their responsibilities." The 71-year-old member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe clearly respects the significance of an honorary degree. In March, when the regents announced that he had been selected, he turned it down because he didn't think he'd done enough to deserve it. "They talked me into accepting it," he said. But as he watched the behavior of the CU administrators and regents, he said he went from humbled and honored to ashamed. "A university is supposed to reflect the highest values and beliefs that our society can achieve ...," he wrote to Hoffman. "The recent actions indicate that the university is groveling in the mud, displaying a lower standard of ethics than the citizens of the state." Deloria said he mulled his options for two days before sending the letter. He's proud of his career as a scholar. He didn't take the action lightly. "Then I remembered Rosa Parks refusing to go to the back of the bus. I felt embarrassed that I even had doubts about objecting to the coverup. She had a lot more to lose than I ever did and more courage than I'll ever have. "So to hell with the degree." He's taking a stand. Diane Carman's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1580 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
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