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Subscribe to RSSBOSTON -- Harvard University says it will not award posthumous degrees to seven students expelled from the Ivy League school in 1920 because they were gay or perceived to be gay.
"Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences does not award posthumous degrees except in the rare case of a student who completes all academic requirements for the degree but dies before the degree has been conferred," the university said in a statement.
"In 2002 the University expressed its deep regret for the way the situation was handled as well as for the anguish experienced by the students and their families almost a century ago."
A group of student and faculty had urged the university to award the posthumous degrees. The group planned a rally Wednesday during a campus visit by Lady Gaga, who will be at Harvard to launch her Born This Way anti-bullying foundation. The singer has been a strong activist for the gay community.
The group says it wants Harvard to formally abolish its so-called "secret court," a tribunal of administrators that investigated charges of homosexual activity among students in 1920. The tribunal remained a secret for decades, only becoming public in 2002 after a student reporter at Harvard searching the school's archive came across a file labeled "secret court" and reported on the school's expulsion of the students.
Lady Gaga's new foundation, named after her 2011 hit song and album, will address issues such as self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying and mentoring through research, education and advocacy. The pop sensation is expected to be joined by Oprah Winfrey, spiritual leader Deepak Chopra and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius during a kickoff event Wednesday on the Harvard campus.
"Given the Born This Way Foundation's commitment to this mission and their choice to launch their foundation at Harvard, we felt like this was an opportunity to ask for their support and would hope they would join us in asking Harvard to do the right thing here and help seek justice for these students," said Kaia Stern, a visiting faculty member at Harvard who plans to attend the rally.
Harvard administrators apologized for the secret court in 2002.
Former Harvard President Lawrence Summers called the episode "abhorrent and an affront to the values of our university."
"I want to express our deep regret for the way this situation was handled, as well as the anguish the students and their families must have experienced eight decades ago," Summers said in a 2002 statement to The Harvard Crimson newspaper.
The Associated Press and msnbc.com's James Eng contributed to this story.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
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My "who cares?" meter is red-lined.
How can you not care? Lady Gaga, Oprah, Deepak Chopra...
Nevermind, I answered my own question.
Yet you still read the article.
Until the administrators burn a Quaran, nothing will come of this.
Harvard should do the right thing and right the wrongs. Regardless, I am so happy we have come a long way.
And yet, you still can't STFU.
I would have to agree, from 1920's if they are still alive...what are they going to do with it? Perhaps they should focus on the issues at hand, such as the still on-going out casting of gays and bullying of students.
You can find examples from every race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sex and sexual orientation of how badly people can treat one another since history has been recorded. How sad....and shameful.....
What do they want to do ? Give every gay a posthumous diploma ? THE SNOBS !
South park hit the nail on the head perfectly with their future illegal immigrants episode. Everyone was gray colored, polite, and spoke the same language. And people were still prejudice of them.
"Harvard" and "the university". What are the names of the human beings who made this ridiculous excuse for a decision? They should be splashed all over the internet. Let the world know who to condemn, ostracize, make fun of and generally look down upon. Step up and take responsibility, you conservative christian brain donors.
Which decision Cindy? The 1920s decision to kick these people out, or the one not to bestow degrees to people who haven't earned them? In the benefit of hindsight, the decisions in the 1920s were wrong. Homosexuals in that time had ALOT more to be worried about than getting kicked out of school though. They could have gotten thrown in jail or in an insane asylum or receive physical beatings. Homosexuality was considered a mental illness at best. Perhaps things have progressed since then (not so sure), but other than issuing a formal apology what do you expect Harvard to do now? The 1st Black person to graduate from Harvard was in 1870. Are you going to post-humorously defer degrees on every black person who applied to Harvard, but didnt get in before then?
You're an idiot of gigantic proportion Cindy!!!
David - yes, they ought to do that. I'm in favor of the majority of clowns that makes up the human race trying at least just a little to have a shred of decency.
Cindy, thank you for the reminder that condemning, ostracizing, making fun of, and looking down on others is what made this country great! You should run for office -- there are multitudes waiting with ears strained for the wisdom to dispense from your lips. They must know who to blame for the ills of society, and certainly you are the one to lead the self-righteous charge! Solutions are meaningless; what's important is that we find and expose those who are to blame!
So much for the tolerant left.
Came for uninformed liberal bashing, leaving satisfied.
Also, if you are going to post hate, might not be a good idea to use your real name as your username, just a thought.
What does the "tolerant left" have to do with decisions made almost a century ago? Gays have been persecuted and maligned in our society for centuries along with a good number of other people who because of sexual orientation, skin color, national origin, you name it, did not fit "the mold." It speaks of narrowmindedness and stupidity which, although not as rampant, is still all too evident in today's society.
@Harvard President Lawrence Summers - It was kind of him to make this apology. It didn't happen on his watch.
And that makes it so much more meaningful and healing...
Lady Gaga looks like a gay male.
She looks pretty tasty to me. You must be blind.
Gee...and just when I thought we'd hit the depths of ignorance and intolerance...along comes Chester!
I don't see where Harvard did anything wrong in 1920 - homosexuality was carefully seen as a deviant behavioral issue for another fifty years after 1920 by the nation's psychological and psychiatric professionals - until they rewrote the books on the subject beginning in 1973. I think we could have expected near unanimity of opinion on this in 1920.
You should read the article and then post. Perhaps you read the article but couldn't understand. There was a secret committee and they only suspected these students.
chester the molester... you sure bark loud like a guilty kicked dog...you idiot moron
Time does not change the definition of a deviant.
I know, those damned left-handed deviants demanding equal protection under the law...
I'll bet your a lefty too Toasty, but only when your right gets tired. lol
That's why we have two hands.
You people are so uninformed. It was Obama's fault.
Bringing in Lady Gaga is a good way to NOT get what you want. She should wear her "meat suit" onto campus, that would be newsworthy.
Santorum was wrong about colleges. Here is a perfect one for him.
Shame on Harvard! I think their rich donors should stop giving money to the school until it rights this wrong. Turn off the money tap and the degrees will be issued tomorrow.