Academics protest John Howard’s honorary degree

BY CHARLOTTE GRIEVE

Fifty-five years after graduating, former Prime Minister John Howard put on a gown and revisited the University of Sydney’s Great Hall. Although this time, he was met with riot police and hordes of protestors.

Early last week, the University of Sydney announced it would award Mr Howard with an honorary doctorate. Such degrees are awarded to individuals who make an “outstanding contribution to the wider community or achieve exceptional academic or creative intelligence.”

Whilst universities tend to remain politically neutral, awarding a former politician is not unprecedented within the University of Sydney. Previous recipients of the honorary degree have been Robert Menzies and Gough Whitlam. Regardless of views surrounding their leadership, both former Prime Ministers made notable investments in higher education, with Menzies’ introduction of the Commonwealth Scholarship scheme in 1951 and Whitlam’s abolishment of university fees altogether in 1974.

In contrast, Howard’s first budget saw $5 billion and 20,000 government funded places cut from the higher education system as well as sharp increases in enrolment and HECS fees.

“Usually those who receive this degree had made some substantial contribution to academia, literature, the sciences or the arts. This has been hypocritical and deliberately controversial,” Emeritus Professor Frank Stilwell told City Hub.

“It’s a very bad look for the University’s future credibility,” he said.

Senior Lecturer at the University, Dr Nicholas Riemer, organised a rally during Friday’s ceremony and launched an online petition against the award that attracted over 1,400 signatures.

Dr Riemer believes awarding Mr Howard an honorary to be a “completely hollow and morally bankrupt” move on behalf of the University.

Despite the announcement being buried in an internal email only days before the ceremony, combined with the fact that no classes were held last week, over 150 people turned up for the rally.

“Howard is a hated figure. A lot people recognise him to be a war criminal, lying to the public, stoking racism. I think that’s why so many people turned up,” said Chloe Rafferty, National Union of Students NSW Education Officer, who co-organised the rally.

Ms Rafferty told City Hub that the University of Sydney has an ongoing problem with Islamophobia that could be heightened as a result of this award.

“To confer a doctorate on him [Mr Howard] is an insult to anyone opposed to war, racism and social exclusion, and committed to multiculturalism, peace and social progress,” read the petition.

“Howard was a divisive politician with a terrible track record,” said Professor Stilwell.

Academics and students alike view Howard’s contentious policies surrounding the Iraq War, his refusal to apologise to Indigenous Australians and treatment of refugees as contradictory to the University’s values.

Despite these tensions, the former Prime Minister was awarded the degree “for his leadership on gun law reform, foreign relations and economic policy.”

Dr Reimer argues that a celebration of Howard’s achievements in domestic gun reform cannot be made in lieu of his “illegal and unjustified” involvement in the Iraq War.

“Unless you want to say that Australian lives matter more than those in Iraq, then I think there’s absolutely no basis for celebrating gun reform as an outstanding achievement,” he said.

In addition, Chancellor Hutchinson and her husband are open supporters of the Liberal Party having disclosed a number of political donations in the past.

“Using it [the award] to honour politicians in the hope of currying favours with political donors doesn’t feel good,” said Professor Stilwell.