SUNY Geneseo to award two honorary degrees at 2022 commencement

SUNY Geneseo is set to award two honorary doctoral degrees at the 2022 commencement. Geneseo alum Howard Blumenthal and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi will both receive honorary doctors of humane letters.  

According to the Chief of Staff for President Wendi Kinney, the SUNY system awards honorary degrees like these every year.  

“The SUNY Board of Trustees grants honorary degrees to individuals who are distinguished in their careers or in their contributions to society.  Most colleges and universities across the country give honorary degrees like this. They can be in a number of fields: you can be in the humanities and the arts, law, business, or philanthropy. The name of the honorary doctorate coincides with their particular field or accomplishment,” Kinney said.  

“An honorary degree is just that: it's an award. It's an honor bestowed upon someone who meets qualifications. The SUNY Board of Trustees grants honorary degrees to individuals who are distinguished in their careers or in their contributions to society. It's typically people who are of state, national, or international stature for their accomplishments,” she said.  

According to the Geneseo website, Blumenthal graduated Geneseo in 1974 and went on to be a successful author television producer, producing award-winning television shows including “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” and leading the teams that created MTV and Nickelodeon. He is a senior scholar working with the Positive Psych Center at the University of Pennsylvania.  

In 2017, Blumenthal founded the non-profit organization Kids on Earth, which partners with local groups to interview children around the world and make them free to view on the internet. Per the organization’s website, the interviews aim to “contribute to the promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity.”  

“It occurred to us that maybe what we needed to do was open the world for kids so that somebody who lives in Cairo might understand that there’s a similar kid living in Osaka, Japan, and that what they're both interested in might also interest a child in South Africa,” said Blumenthal of the project at the Children’s Global Media Summit in 2017.  “We’re seeing the beginning of responsibility as they understand that they have capacity that others don't, and that they have to help kids in other parts of the world. To see that glimmer of altruism and caring and love is very impressive.”

For his research in psychology and his work with Kids on Earth, Blumenthal is being awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters.  

Per the Geneseo website, Kendi is the author of several acclaimed books and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. He has written five NY Times bestsellers and is the youngest ever winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction. Kendi’s book How to be an Antiracist has inspired the college to explore topics related to social justice and change over the course of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years.  

Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor at Boston University (BU), a prestigious position awarded in recognition of his work as a historian, activist and author.  The position has previously only been held by Holocaust survivor and 1986 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel.  

“BU is extremely proud to have Dr. Kendi serve as our next holder of the Mellon Professorship. It is a very special honor, given the professorship’s history and record of advancing the human condition” said BU Provost Jean Morrison in a 2020 article published in Back2BU, the universities news publication.  “Dr. Kendi’s achievements in research and scholarship, his record as a teacher, his substantial contributions to discourse on race and society, and his forthcoming engagement in all aspects of university life make him a most suitable holder of this distinction.”

For his writing and activism, Kendi is also receiving a doctorate of humane letters.  

Both Blumenthal and Kendi will give brief addresses at the 2022 commencement accepting their doctorates.