Everything you read in the news about President Bush’s former White House Chief of Staff Andrew (Andy) Card emphasizes the fact that he’s a “nice guy.” But is a reputation for congeniality enough for an honorary doctorate in public policy from UMass Amherst? Card is scheduled to receive this honorary degree at the university’s graduate school commencement exercises on Friday, May 25.

We recently had a chance to discuss this with Andy Card himself; he called us after hearing that many people at UMass Amherst are outraged at his honorary degree. Card’s main concern was that he had been unfairly “personally attacked” as “intellectually dishonest.”

While acknowledging that we might have differences of political opinion, he asserted repeatedly that he was a man of great personal integrity. “Do you even know me?” he asked incredulously. “How would you feel if someone said that about you?”

Taken aback by this line of reasoning, we responded by saying that our charge of intellectual dishonesty was based not on his personal attributes but rather on his very public role in misleading the world about the justification for the devastating war in Iraq.

Card suggested we should have called him first to ask him about his “side of the story” before dragging his name through the mud. We appreciated his willingness to talk to a couple of UMass professors, but this is the same man who is currently refusing to testify in front of the Congressional House Government and Oversight Committee about his knowledge of the leak in the Valerie Plame case.

This is also the same man who played a central role in an administration that has acknowledged violating domestic and international law and fundamentally misrepresenting the truth for political gain.

It takes astonishing rhetorical magic to transform the very definition of a political act - falsifying evidence to “market” an ideologically driven war deemed illegal by the international community - into a personal matter. Honoring a public servant most recognized for his role in misleading the public about the war in Iraq is a deeply political decision and, unfortunately for Mr. Card, the UMass community is not buying his magic marketing tricks this time.

The protests at UMass are not about “freedom of expression”; there had been few objections to his right to give a talk on campus earlier in the semester, even though many faculty and students disagreed with what Mr. Card had to say.

Granting this degree normalizes Card and his role in the Bush administration, rewarding him as if he were just any other public servant from Massachusetts. It reduces falsification and exaggeration, suppression of documents and the coercion of less powerful nations into alternatives along a reasonable spectrum of actions. War and torture become matters of “personal opinion.” Lying is just “part of the job.”

Card seemed genuinely shocked that there would be opposition to this honor, given his commitment to the commonwealth and his humble roots. He told us that he wasn’t just a White House chief of staff, but had held many “regular” jobs in his life, from newspaper delivery boy to McDonald’s employee. We insisted that the growing opposition at UMass had nothing to do with his personal life trajectory, just as recent efforts to revoke an honorary degree given to Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe was not a reflection of his personal shortcomings.

Within one week, over 1,200 students, faculty, staff and alumni from the UMass community have signed a petition against Mr. Card’s degree on the basis that he does not meet the “high ethical standards” that “exemplify the ideals of the University of Massachusetts.” The undergraduate and graduate student senates, as well as graduate employees and faculty unions, have passed resolutions against Card’s degree. This week, the faculty senate will vote on a similar resolution.

On Thursday, graduate students, at whose graduation Mr. Card would be receiving his degree, held a large peaceful rally demanding that the administration revoke the degree. The protests will continue.

In our phone conversation last Thursday, we pleaded with Mr. Card to listen to the UMass community and reconsider coming to Amherst on May 25, so that graduate students can celebrate their achievements with their families, faculty and the community. Mr. Card replied by saying that “I have been invited to receive this great honor, and I am not rude.”

We ask Mr. Card again to consider if as a “nice man” it might be worth it for him to risk the perception of “rudeness” to a few UMass administrators who have invited him, as opposed to ignoring the outrage of thousands of UMass students, faculty, staff and community who are unequivocally opposed to his receiving this honor for his role in the ultimate act of rudeness: starting an unnecessary war that has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands.

Paula Chakravartty is an assistant professor in the UMass Department of Communication. Stephanie Luce is an associate professor of labor studies at UMass.

Daily Hampshire Gazette © 2007