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The 235th Commencement
Brown
University will confer
seven honorary degrees on May 26
Brown
University will confer
seven honorary degrees during Commencement exercises Monday, May 26, 2003. The recipients
are actress Laura Linney; Rhode Island School of Design President Roger
Mandle; former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn; Lowery Stokes Sims of the Studio Museum in
Harlem; genetic researcher Joan Argetsinger Steitz; Brian Urquhart, former
undersecretary-general of the United Nations; and Chinese dissident Xu Wenli.
PROVIDENCE,
R.I. — Seven people who have
distinguished themselves in the arts, science and public affairs will receive
honorary degrees from Brown
University at its
Commencement ceremony Monday,
May 26, 2003. The degrees will be conferred during the University
Convocation, which begins at approximately 11:30 a.m. on The College Green.
The recipients are actress Laura
Linney; Roger
Mandle, president of the Rhode Island School of Design; former Georgia
U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn;
Lowery
Stokes Sims, director of the Studio Museum in Harlem; genetic researcher Joan
Argetsinger Steitz; Brian
Urquhart, former United Nations undersecretary-general; and Chinese
dissident Xu Wenli.
[Text of citations in English and Latin is linked below.]
None of the recipients is the
University’s Commencement speaker. At Brown, that honor goes to two members
of the graduating class. However, four honorary degree recipients will speak
during Commencement Weekend:
- Mandle will address “The Service Ethic: Colleges
and Universities as Good Citizens in Their Own Home Towns,” a
Commencement Forum at 9 a.m.
Saturday, May 24, in Starr Auditorium, 167 Thayer St.;
- Sims will discuss “Closing the Gap on Race and
Gender: What is the Role of Art Museums with ‘Niche’ Agendas in the 21st
Century?,” a Commencement Forum at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 24, in Sayles Hall, on The
College Green;
- Steitz will discuss “Lupus and Snurps: Uncovering
an Extra Step in the Central Dogma,” a Commencement Forum at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 24,
in Starr Auditorium, 167
Thayer St.;
- Xu will deliver the baccalaureate address, “My
Journey to Brown: A Personal Odyssey,” to the graduating seniors at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, May 25, in
the Meeting House of the First
Baptist Church
in America.
His daughter, Xu Jin, will provide translation.
The forums are open to the
public. Because seating in the Meeting House is sufficient only to hold the
graduating class, Xu’s address will be simulcast to a large video screen on
The College Green, where parents and friends may watch.
 Xu
Wenli
Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.)
Text
of citation delivered Monday, May 26
Western diplomats and human
rights groups have long recognized Xu as one of China’s most prominent advocates
for democracy.
Xu is a visiting senior
fellow at Brown
University’s Thomas J.
Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies. He holds a six-month
appointment through June
30, 2003. But the journey that ultimately led to Brown began in China. A
freelance editor and writer for
the April Fifth Forum and an electrician at the Beijing Railroad Company, Xu
was arrested for the first time in 1979 during the Democracy Wall movement as
an outspoken proponent of political freedoms. Charged with “illegally
organizing a clique to overthrow the government,” he began serving a 15-year
prison sentence in 1981. He was paroled in May 1993 after serving 12 years
and 48 days, much of it in solitary confinement. His health suffered
significantly.
He was arrested again in 1998 after he tried to set up an
opposition political party and called for independent labor unions. He was
convicted on charges of endangering state security and sentenced to 13 years.
His health, which had begun to return after his 1993 parole, deteriorated
rapidly. International human rights groups, the American ambassador to China and
visiting Western officials pressed urgently for his freedom. Xu’s release on
medical grounds came suddenly on Christmas Eve 2002. He and his wife arrived
in Pawtucket, R.I., where their daughter Xu Jin lives, and now live in an
apartment near the Brown campus.######
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