Four distinguished leaders in the arts and humanities have been selected to receive honorary Doctors of Letters during Haverford's May 17 commencement ceremonies.
They are 1997 Pulitzer Prize winning trumpet player and composer, Wynton Marsalis; United Nations Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata; public radio talk show host Terry Gross; and peace activist Staughton Lynd.
Marsalis will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters for his vital contributions to the world of music. The first jazz musician ever to receive the Pulitzer Prize for music, Marsalis considers his Grammy Award-winning music "the union of jazz and democracy." A composer as well as a musician, The New York Times Magazine said his work "marked the symbolic moment when the full heritage of the line, Ellington through Mingus, was extended into this present."
Ogata, a teacher, historian, diplomat and author, will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters for her advocacy on behalf of refugees around the world and her compassion for the victims of armed conflict and human rights violations. The U.N. Commissioner for Refugees since 1991, Ogata is the author of numerous books and articles on diplomatic history and international relations and is the former chair of the Executive Board of UNICEF.
Gross, the host and executive producer of the Peabody Award winning radio program "Fresh Air," will receive a Doctor of Letters for her thought-provoking explorations of the modern human experience through interview and commentary. During her 25-year career in radio, Gross has interviewed such cultural icons as John Updike, Arthur Miller, Spalding Gray and John Sayles in a manner that the San Francisco Chronicle calls "A remarkable blend of empathy and warmth, genuine curiosity and sharp intelligence."
Lynd, a lawyer, writer, activist and teacher, will receive a Doctor of Laws for his lifelong commitment to peaceful social change and empowerment. He was a leading anti-war spokesman during the Vietnam War who accompanied Tom Hayden and Herbert Aptheker during their controversial visit to Hanoi in 1965. After being blacklisted from various teaching appointments at five Chicago-area universities, Lynd became a lawyer specializing in employment law. In the late 1970s he served as counsel to the Ecumenical Coalition of the Mahoning Valley, which served to reopen the steel mills in Youngstown, Ohio under worker-community ownership. He is the author of numerous books on such topics as social history, labor organizations and nonviolence.
Each recipient will present brief remarks during the ceremony which traditionally takes place at 10 a.m. on the green in front of Roberts Hall. The evening before the ceremony, the college will hold a forum with the degree recipients in Marshall Auditorium at 8:30 p.m.
