For the sake of honor:

Home News For the sake of honor:

Hillsdale College will present honorary degrees to five friends of the college at commencement on May 11.

Honorary degrees are awarded every year. In addition to the commencement speaker, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), this year’s recipients will include Don and Lois Thorson and John and Joan Babbitt.

“They are people who have been friends of the college for a long time or who have supported the college,” said Mark Maier, assistant to the provost.

Both couples to receive degrees have shown a long-standing commitment to Hillsdale’s mission, said the report faculty reviewed before voting.

Mike Harner, chief staff officer and assistant to College President Larry Arnn, described the recipients’ traditional qualifications as “public service toward business or academia.”

The endowment for Distinguished Visiting Fellowship that the Thorsons set up has helped to fund many of the college’s visiting professors.

Don Thorson, who served as an engineer and purveyor in the army and as a legislator for the Wyoming House of Representatives, and his wife, Lois Thorson, shall receive the honorary degree in public service for “their steadfast service to the college, to local government, and to the defense of our country,” said the biography presented to faculty.

The Babbitts began supporting the college in 1996. A chemical engineer, John Babbitt worked as the executive vice president of Williams Companies and is also the founder of Devco Companies.

According to the information presented to faculty, the couple will receive their honorary degree in business due to “their contributions to free enterprise and this college.” This same report said they donated to various programs connected to the college, including National Leadership Seminars and student scholarships.

This year’s commencement speaker is another whose work and personal values “sufficiently mirror the Hillsdale College mission statement,” said senior class officer Eric DeMeuse.

“Cruz is a very eloquent and virtuous politician who can appeal not only to students, but to faculty, family, and donors, all of whom will be present at commencement,” DeMeuse said.

Harner said the process of selecting this year’s recipients began with recommendations offered by Hillsdale faculty or other members of the wider academic community. Arnn, Provost David Whalen, and other members of Hillsdale’s senior faculty considered these recommendations and presented the dossiers of the potential honorees to the general faculty.

“They are presented in a way that they are deemed suitable for the honor,” Harner added.

After the faculty learned of the recommended recipients’ qualifications, they voted, making the preliminary decision themselves.

“It’s not a super controversial process,” Maier said.

Finally, Hillsdale’s Board of Trustees approved the recipients before they were announced.

As the report presented to faculty said, Hillsdale will recognize this year’s honorary degree recipients in gratitude for their generosity and commitment to the college’s values.