Posthumous Degrees

You know it's a slow year on the Faculty when the hottest topic is posthumous degrees.

The Faculty Council, the Faculty's agenda-setting executive committee, spent 45 minutes on the subject last month, and a resolution may go to the full Faculty next month.

Two or three times a decade, a student completes the degree requirement but dies before the degree can be conferred. The family is given a certificate, but no degree.

The Council may propose a compassionate change in current rules, but could face opposition from those who fear that officials will be pressured to waive degree requirements for students who almost made it.

Some, of course, view the whole matter as rather pointless. After all, a posthumous degree seems to have about as much worth as a driver's license: it's not much good if you're not around to use it.