Tuchman, Kollek, Carlos, To Be Honored June 7

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Tuchman '33 will be among 11 man and women expected to receive honorary degrees at Harvard's 333rd Commencement exercises Thursday, the Crimson has learned.

King Juan Carlos of Spain--who will deliver the Commencement address--and Teddy Kollek, mayor of Jerusalem, will also reportedly receive honorary degrees.

Tuchman, whose most recent historical work, The March of Folly, is riding high on the best-seller list, said yesterday in a telephone interview. "It's truly a pleasure, delight." Tuchman said she is planning no other activities while at Harvard.

Kollek Controversy

The decision to award an honorary degree to Kollek, reported in last week's issue of the Jewish Advocate, has thrust the mayor into the middle of a year-long controversy over University's decision to hold Commence-June 7, a date which conflicts with the second day of the traditional Jewish holiday Shavuot. Not all American Jews recognize the holiday, however.

The Jewish Advocate charged that Harvard's offer to Kollek would further antagonize a Jewish community upset about the University's refusal to change the date for the exercises.

But Harvard Hiliel Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold said yesterday that Kollek, who is not an Orthodox Jew, is "not breaking any [religious] law" because Israeli Jews only observe the first day of the holiday, a celebration of God's gift of the Torah.

Gold said the issue is moot, because the University has already agreed to consider alternate arrangements for upcoming conflicts with the holiday. The two traditional events conflict only periodically.

Vice President and General Counsel Daniel Steiner '54, who has handled the Shavuot controversy, refused comment on the decision to award Kollek an honorary degree.

Carlos

An official at the Spanish Consulate in Boston, who asked not to be identified, yesterday confirmed that Carlos would be among the 11 honorands. Such degrees are traditionally awarded to the Commencement speaker during the morning portion of the ceremony.

The names of the honorary degree recipients are usually kept secret until the morning of Commencement day.

Tuchman, who receives her degree one year after she celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of her graduation from Radcliffe College, has been vying for an honorary degree for some time, a University official said yesterday. The official, who requested anonymity, added that Tuchman's friends have put her up for nomination for several years.

The University each year solicits nominations from faculty and staff.