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In What Field Was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a Doctor?

By matt soniak | jan 15, 2020, 3:00 pm est.

Martin Luther King Jr. earned a doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University in 1955. He’d previously earned a Bachelor of Arts from Morehouse College and a Bachelor of Divinity from Crozer Theological Seminary. His dissertation , “A Comparison of the Conception of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman,” examined the two religious philosophers’ views of God in comparison to each other, and to King’s own concept of a "knowable and personal" God.

In 1989, some three decades after King had earned his doctorate, archivists working with The Martin Luther King Papers Project discovered that King’s dissertation suffered from what they called a “problematic use of sources.” King, they learned, had taken a large amount of material verbatim from other scholars and sources and used it in his work without full or proper attribution, and sometimes no attribution at all.

In 1991, a Boston University investigatory committee concluded that King had indeed plagiarized parts of his dissertation, but found that it was “impractical to reach, on the available evidence, any conclusions about Dr. King's reasons for failing to attribute some, but not all, of his sources.” That is, it could have been anything from malicious intent to simple forgetfulness—no one can determine for sure today. They did not recommend a posthumous revocation of his degree, but instead suggested that a letter be attached to the dissertation in the university library noting the passages lacked quotations and citations.

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Throwback Thursday: When JFK and MLK Received Degrees from Boston University

Get a compelling long read and must-have lifestyle tips in your inbox every sunday morning — great with coffee.

JFK Photo via BU on Instagram / MLK Photo via The King Center

As historical figures go, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. have a lot in common. They became national leaders during the 1960s, possessed enviable oratory skills, died by assassination, and left behind enormous, overlapping legacies that have become inseparable in history.

Today, both men are widely remembered for the roles they played in the Civil Rights Movement. But, in fact, their paths crossed at a commencement ceremony years before they would ever meet for the first time.

On June 5, 1955, both King and Kennedy received degrees from Boston University. King, who had yet to become a public figure, earned his doctor of philosophy degree in systematic theology. At the same graduation ceremony, Kennedy—then a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts—accepted an honorary doctor of laws degree. (Notably, though he did graduate, King did not make it to BU Field that day due to financial constraints and his wife’s pregnancy.)

The graduation took place just months before King would lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott, becoming the leader of a much larger movement. Years of organized protest, civil disobedience, and correspondence with Kennedy would eventually follow.

In 1960, when King was arrested for a sit-in in Atlanta, presidential candidate Kennedy called Coretta Scott King to express his sympathy while Robert Kennedy called a judge to get King released. The move helped JFK win the presidential election with the African American vote.

That relationship carried on throughout Kennedy’s short presidency. In 1962, King met with Kennedy to ask for stronger civil rights support from the White House. In March 1963, he sent a telegram urging the president to intervene to stop police brutality in Mississippi. Another telegram praised Kennedy’s famous Civil Rights Address on June 11, 1963. And King was one of several civil rights leaders who met with Kennedy following the March on Washington in August 1963.

And yet before all of that, they were classmates of sorts, united by a university, as so many new graduates have been in recent weeks.

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Who is “free karen read” blogger aidan “turtleboy” kearney, author sebastian junger talks his near-death experience in truro, 16 restaurants worth the drive to portland, maine, our guide to the 12 best restaurants on nantucket, in this section.

Boston Leaders Reflect on Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., Say There's More Work to Be Done

Boston is anxiously awaiting the martin luther king memorial to be placed in boston common; the sculpture's unveiling is scheduled for martin luther king day in 2023, published january 17, 2022 • updated on january 17, 2022 at 8:25 pm.

Hundreds gathered Monday at Starlight in Cambridge’s Central Square to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., and to walk the streets of the neighborhood while learning about the local Black and Brown history.

“We are challenging people to think about MLK as if he was on this walk with us," said Nico Emack, one of the event's organizers.

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Emack prefers not to call MLK Day a celebration because he feels that implies the work is done.

“We need to roll up our sleeves because there’s still a lot left to do,” Emack, of "My Brother's Keeper," said.

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More on MLK Day

Celtics' Jaylen Brown Honors Martin Luther King Jr. With Pregame Speech

On MLK Day, National Leaders Acknowledge Unmet Needs for Racial Equality

In-person events have been limited due to the coronavirus pandemic, so many local leaders joined virtual events on Monday, like an annual collaboration between the City of Boston, Boston University -- where King got his PhD in the 1950s -- and the New England Conservatory -- where Coretta Scott King got her music degree.

“It is on this legacy of the civil rights movement, the legacy of the fight for racial equality, the legacy of these giants of history, that today’s activists build a brighter future for us all," said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley says in order to truly recognize Dr. King, the filibuster must be abolished so voting rights legislation can be passed. And Pressley also says she does not appreciate when King’s legacy is reduced to that of a peaceful protester with a dream.

"When the whole truth is that Dr. King was a proud and unapologetic Black man, a prophetic preacher and radical dreamer with a bold vision and desire for revolutionary change," Pressley said.

Boston is anxiously awaiting the Martin Luther King memorial to be placed in Boston Common. The unveiling of the 22-foot bronze sculpture is scheduled for Martin Luther King Day in 2023.

“What I particularly admire about Dr. King is his persistence. His determination, his dedication his motivation," said Elijah Booker of “My Brother’s Keeper."

“His dedication to making sure that black voices and black experiences were not only just heard but understood,” Elizabeth Pierre of Cambridge added.

In the 1950s this was the side of the 12th Baptist Church were MLK once preached. Now a residential building this mural callEd Roxbury love story as a tribute to the civil rights leader, his wife Coretta Scott King and there early roots in Boston.

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Malcolm X and Martin Luther King in Boston: One City, Two Different Worlds

When Martin Luther King, Jr., moved to Boston in 1951 to study for his graduate degree in philosophy, Malcolm X was already there voraciously reading books. Malcolm X, though, read from the Charlestown State Prison as he finished his six-year sentence for burglary.

Together, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King spent about 15 years in Boston. The two men only met once, and not in Boston. They experienced two very different sides of the same city.  Those differences became clear by the time of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom .

Martin and Malcolm X

Martin, the son of a well-to-do Atlanta minister, lived the genteel life in Boston. He wore tailored suits to concerts,  teas, sermons and classes. He owned his own Chevrolet and matriculated at Boston University. There he consulted renowned philosophers Paul Tillich and Reinold Neibuhr for advice about his dissertation.

Malcolm X in 1964.

Malcolm X matriculated in Boston’s streets and prisons during the dozen years he lived there on and off.  Parentless and poor, the 15-year-old first moved to the Roxbury section of Boston in 1941. There he stayed with his older half-sister, the formidable Ella Little Collins. She saw theft as her only way to make it into the black bourgeoisie. Police arrested her 21 times, but received only one conviction.

Her rebellious little brother took from her a lesson about evading personal responsibility.  He dropped out of ninth grade after one day, smoked pot, hustled, stole, ran numbers and seduced loose women.

By 1963, the ex-con and the former graduate student had achieved international fame. Martin Luther King, Jr., earned international celebrity for preaching nonviolence and integration, Malcolm X for preaching separatism and self-defense. Where Martin said he had a dream for America, Malcolm X said he saw an American nightmare.

That was the year of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Both Martin and Malcolm had only a few years left. The two men were coming closer – certainly not to each other, but to the same views and strategies. Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam, repudiated his earlier racism and advocated a program of economic advancement. Martin Luther King, Jr.,  increasingly embraced the labor movement as a force for the economic justice required for social justice. Many forget he died while supporting a sanitation workers’ strike.

Martin Luther King in 1964.

Malcolm X Meets the Cradle of Jazz

In February 1941, Malcolm X, still known as Malcolm Little, rode the Greyhound bus from Lansing, Mich., to Boston. He wore a too-small dark green suit and a light green topcoat. He moved in with his older half sister Ella at 72 Dale St. in Roxbury. The modest house sits a block from what is now Martin Luther King Boulevard and three miles from what would be Martin’s apartment at 397 Massachusetts Ave. in the South End.

Malcolm X frequented Boston’s jazz clubs.

Malcolm’s mother had been committed to an insane asylum in Kalamazoo. His father, a Baptist lay preacher, was killed by a streetcar when Malcolm was six. Though Earl Little’s death was ruled an accident, Malcolm believed his father had been pushed in front of the oncoming trolley by white racists. Earl followed Marcus Garvey , leader of the black separatist and Pan-Africanism movement. So did his half-sister Ella.

Boston made an enormous impression on the small-town boy from Michigan.

Malcolm X on Mass. Ave.

“I didn’t know the world contained as many Negroes as I saw thronging downtown Roxbury at night, especially on Saturdays,” Malcolm X wrote in his 1964 autobiography . “Neon lights, nightclubs, poolhalls [sic], bars, the cars they drove! Restaurants made the streets smell-rich, greasy, down-home black cooking. Jukeboxes blared Erskine Hawkins, Duke Ellington, Cootie Williams, dozens of others.”

Ella had offered to take him in and enrolled him in a private boys’ academy in downtown Boston. On his first day he saw no girls in school and decided to end his formal education. Soon he met his mentor in the ways of the underworld, Malcolm “Shorty” Jarvis. Jarvis, a trumpet player, introduced him to Boston’s demimonde.

“The stretch of Mass. Ave. between Huntington and Columbus was, by the late ’40s, Boston’s answer to 52nd Street in Manhattan. It had not only the Roseland, but the Savoy Café, the Hi-Hat, Wally’s, and a handful of smaller clubs,” according to Nat Hentoff in a 2001 Boston Globe article.

Malcolm conked his hair, bought a zoot suit and learned how to hustle and dance. He deliberately set himself apart from African-American strivers like the preacher’s son from Atlanta.

The “M” in Martin

Martin Luther King, Jr., 22, arrived in Boston in 1951, the son of a well-to-do Baptist pastor. He too had skipped ninth grade – but because he was such a precocious student. Martin went right to the tenth and, right after 11 th grade, enrolled in Morehouse College at age 15. He had graduated in 1948 with a degree in sociology and then received a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pa.

Boston University along Commonwealth Ave.

King adopted an elite persona as he moved between his classes, the library and his Massachusetts Avenue apartment. In Parting the Waters , Taylor Branch writes: “King continued to wear tailored suits whenever he stepped out of his apartment, and he worked consciously to develop habits befitting an intellectual. Doodling on the back of a notebook, he practiced increasingly ornate signatures, until the “g” in King looped all the way back to the “M” in Martin.

Martin was influenced by his advisor, theologian Howard Thurman , the first black dean of a predominately white university. He listened to Thurman’s sermons at the University’s  Marsh Chapel . Thurman, who had visited Mohandas Gandhi in India, educated his young student in the mahatma’s philosophy of nonviolent protest.

Martin surrounded himself with books and pursued an elegant social life. He wanted to find the proper wife for an ambitious Baptist minister. One of his friends called him “the most eligible and popular bachelor in town.” His dating began to affect his grades.

Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott in Boston.

Martin wooed Coretta Scott, an Antioch College graduate  studying to become a classical singer at the New England Conservatory of Music. He treated her to concerts and the theater and showered her with poetic prose. In a letter written in 1952 , he wrote “My life without you is like a year without a spring time which comes to give illumination and heat to the atmosphere saturated by the dark cold breeze of winter.”

They wed in 1953, and moved into a new apartment in Boston.  They didn’t stay long. In September 1954 he became the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. Nine months later, he would receive his Ph.D. from Boston University. Soon after that he would be plunged into the civil rights movement.

Menial Jobs, Prison

Malcolm would get a series of menial jobs in Boston : as a soda jerk, as a warehouse worker at a South Boston wallpaper company, at a Sears Roebuck warehouse in the Fenway, as a waiter at the posh Parker House.

When the United States entered World War II, jobs opened up on the railroad, and Malcolm got a job as a fourth-class cook. He traveled to Washington, D.C., and to New York, where he fell in love with Harlem. By 1943 he had moved there, supporting himself by dealing drugs, gambling and stealing. He drifted back and forth between Boston, New York and his family in Lansing for the next few years. Police arrested him several times.

Police mugshot of Malcolm X after his arrest in  1944.

Finally, in 1946 police arrested him for burglary. He had dropped off a stolen watch for repair at a Roxbury jewelry store. Detectives were waiting for him when he came to pick it up.  He received a sentence of six to eight years of hard labor at the notorious Charlestown prison.

Charlestown State Prison is now the site of Bunker Hill Community College . Malcolm was incensed about his imprisonment, and his cellmates called him “Satan.” He furiously paced his tiny cell, insulted the guards, ranted profanely and got high on ground nutmeg.

Malcolm X Turns Around

And then Malcolm Little started to turn his life around. A fellow inmate persuaded him to begin formal study through correspondence courses. Malcolm threw himself into his self-education. Prison officials, noting his good behavior, moved him to a slightly better institution, the Massachusetts Reformatory at Concord.

By then, he’d convinced Ella of the sincerity of his good intentions. She began a letter-writing campaign to move him to a more humane facility. She succeeded. He then moved to the Norfolk Prison Colony , where he could read extensively in the prison library and practice his debating skills.

Prodded by his family, Malcolm began to follow the Nation of Islam, a new movement that preached self-reliance and Pan-Africanism. He left prison in 1952 and moved to Detroit. There he joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Malcolm X.

To read Part 2 this story, click here . This story about Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., was updated in 2022.

Image; Malcolm X in 1964, By Ed Ford, World Telegram staff photographer – Library of Congress. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c15058, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3515550.

New Englanders Who Made it to the 1963 March on Washington

Maine swords, steakhouses and carousels in today’s history highlights, 11 comments.

What a great piece of work!

[…] viewed Boston as his second home. He had earned his doctorate at Boston University and met his wife, Coretta Scott, during his […]

[…] Luther King considered Boston his second home. He was the son of a well-to-do Atlanta minister. During his three years at BU, Boston to him was a […]

[…] was murdered on April 4, 1968. Fuller didn’t announce his gift to Coretta Scott King, but it made the news in Louisville in the run-up to the Derby. Fuller feared reprisal. He received […]

[…] Minh, worked in the Parker House bakery and probably made Boston Cream Pie. Another revolutionary, Malcolm X, worked as a waiter in the Parker House and probably served Boston Cream […]

[…] year after Eugene O’Neill died, the Sheraton hotel was sold to Boston University and became the Shelton […]

[…] James Allen, a career criminal, robbed and shot a man on the Salem Turnpike. In 1835, Allen was captured, sentenced to death for attempted murder and held in Charlestown State Prison. […]

[…] Ala. to take part in a march to the capital in Montgomery to protest racial segregation, lead by Martin Luther King. But when the buses that brought him to the town rolled back north, Daniels and a small group of […]

[…] eight hotels and guest houses, nine restaurants, a couple of barbers, the Savoy Nightclub (where Malcolm X once shined shoes) and a half-dozen […]

[…] was soon in the Charles Street Jail. On Jan. 12, 1912, he signed a written confession that he killed Avis Linnell. He had given her […]

[…] James Allen robbed and shot a man on the Salem Turnpike. In 1835, Allen received the death sentence for attempted murder and was held in Charlestown State Prison. […]

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Dr Martin Luther King Education

The schooling of martin luther king jr.

Martin Luther King’s education began at a very early age. His mother was a school teacher who taught the young MLK to read before he even entered school. He attended David T. Howard Elementary School in Atlanta at the age of five years old but the starting age at that time was six so he had to return the next year.

Martin Luther King never really completed high school. MLK Jr. was so intelligent that he skipped his first and last year at Booker T. Washington High School and went directly into college during his junior year. He entered college when he was just 15 years old.

King graduated from Morehouse College in 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology. It was at Morehouse that Martin Luther King was exposed to the writings of Henry David Thoreau. King was inspired by Thoreau’s essay on Civil Disobedience, and it started the momentum that would one day change the landscape of our society.

The church soon called to Martin Luther King and he used its platform to begin his journey towards equality. At seventeen years old, MLK Jr delivered his very first public speech at the Ebenezer Church, where is father was a pastor. King was ordained as a minister and worked closely with the senior King at the church.

In 1948, MLK Jr. attended his first integrated school, Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. King absorbed the teachings of many inspirational leaders from the past but it is here where he first became exposed to the reflective teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozer in 1951.

In 1955 MLK became Dr. Martin Luther King when he earned his PhD on theology from Boston University. It was while he attended school in Boston that King met a young Southern girl, Coretta Scott, who was attending the New England Conservatory of Music nearby. Coretta Scott would soon become the wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Boston Cares is pleased to join John Hancock, the Boston Globe, Partners Healthcare, Boston University, and Teen Empowerment to produce the 2018 MLK Scholars Program. The program will provide summer jobs in corporate and community settings for more than 600 Boston teenagers. As part of the summer experience, youth participants are required to attend bi-weekly personal development workshops, called the Mayor Menino Leadership Forums. These workshops incorporate teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King that will focus on youth success on the job, at school and in the community. Scholars will build meaningful relationships with other youth and volunteer table facilitators while learning life skills through guest speakers and interactive group activities.

How can you get involved?

Become a Table Facilitator for the Menino Leadership Forums

Volunteers will work with the same group of 10 youth at the Friday Mayor Menino Leadership Forums, held at Boston University’s Agganis Arena. Using a curriculum guide tailored to each session, mentors will engage the youth in conversation, interactive exercises and reflection on the weekly topic. Table facilitators will be provided with the curriculum in advance. We encourage volunteers to sign up for all 4 sessions, which allows for consistency and productive relationship building.

The sessions are : Friday, July 13th, July 27th, August 10th and August 17th

Join the Registration Team for the Menino Leadership Forums

Want to participate but table facilitation isn't your thing? Join us as a Registration Volunteer! Registration volunteers are essential to helping us greet, check-in, update attendance, and distribute materials for 600 youth Scholars.

Registration volunteers are needed on July 13th, July 27th, August 10th and August 17th from 8:15am-10:00am. Volunteers are encouraged, but not required, to make a multi-week commitment. All registration volunteers receive a complimentary breakfast.

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Martin Luther King Jr. in the Boston area

Before he was a civil rights pioneer and Nobel laureate, King was but lowly grad student at Boston University

Martin Luther King Jr. was but a lowly grad student at Boston University in the early 1950s before he was a major civil rights leader.

While studying here, he did grad student things: Played pick-up basketball games to unwind; dated his future spouse; and happily dined gratis at friends’ homes. King likely spent most of his time in the South End, including residing at three known addresses, as well as in and around the BU campus.

He would leave the area in 1954, as he wound down his PhD, but would return to deliver a forceful speech at the Massachusetts State House months after he won the Nobel Peace Prize in October 1964.

397 Massachusetts Avenue. King lived for a time in this three-story South End rowhouse with the bow front. It’s the only address of his where there’s an official plaque commemorating the tenancy.

170 Saint Botolph Street. King lived in this South End brownstone for a time as well.

396 Northampton Street, #5. King lists this South End apartment as his address in correspondence in 1954. This was likely the first home for King after his 1953 marriage to Coretta Scott.

William E. Carter Playground. King unwound from his graduate studies with basketball games in this South End park next to Northeastern University. The Carter Playground, interestingly enough, was the first public park in Boston named for an African-American—a veteran of both the Spanish-American War and World War I.

21 Holyoke Street. King was a dinner guest of the long-time owners of this South End townhouse, which last sold for $3,823,803 in January 2013 .

League of Women for Community Service. Coretta Scott lived at the long-time headquarters of the League of Women for Community Service at 558 Massachusetts Avenue while she was dating King.

Myles Standish Hall. Where Martin met Coretta... And where King lived when he first got to BU. It’s at 610 Beacon Street in Kenmore Square.

Massachusetts State House. On April 22, 1965, King spoke to a joint legislative session inside everyone’s favorite federal touchstone . He closed his remarks by quoting his “I Have a Dream” speech almost verbatim.

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She Just Earned Her Doctorate at 17. Now, She’ll Go to the Prom.

Dorothy Jean Tillman II of Chicago made history as the youngest person to earn a doctoral degree in integrated behavioral health at Arizona State University.

By Alexandra E. Petri

When Dorothy Jean Tillman II successfully defended her dissertation in November 2023 to earn her doctoral degree from Arizona State University, she couldn’t wait to share the news with her best friend.

“It was a surreal moment,” Dr. Tillman said, “because it was crazy I was doing it in the first place.”

Dr. Tillman, at only 17, became the youngest person to earn a doctoral degree in integrated behavioral health from Arizona State’s College of Health Solutions, all before she was eligible to vote. Earlier this month, Dr. Tillman, now 18, took part in Arizona State’s commencement ceremony and delivered remarks as the outstanding 2024 graduate at the College of Health Solution’s convocation.

Lesley Manson, program director for the doctorate of behavioral health at Arizona State and Dr. Tillman’s doctoral chair, said Dr. Tillman displayed extraordinary perseverance, hard work and dedication for her young age, tackling every challenge head-on.

“She can serve as a real role model,” Ms. Manson said.

Dr. Tillman, called D.J. by her family and friends, was an early bloomer. She grew up in Chicago and was home-schooled from a young age, first in a group setting through online classes, and then by her mother, Jimalita Tillman, a single parent with a background in community theater.

Dr. Tillman was part of a gifted program before transitioning to home-schooling. Jimalita Tillman continued her daughter on an accelerated track: By the time she was 8, she was taking high school classes. While most 9-year-olds were learning math and reading, Dr. Tillman was starting college online.

At the time, they lived with Jimalita Tillman’s mother, Dorothy Wright Tillman, a civil rights activist who worked alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was a Chicago alderman. Dr. Tillman is her grandmother’s namesake (hence the II at the end of Dr. Tillman’s name).

During her early college days, Dr. Tillman’s classroom was often a Starbucks in Chicago, and her days began as soon it opened, she said. Her go-to order was an iced peach green tea with lemonade.

“Around the time when kids went to lunch, we’d be closing the computer,” said Dr. Tillman, who said her discipline and focus come from her grandmother.

Because of her age, Dr. Tillman lived at home while pursuing her higher education, and most of her coursework was online — a challenge for a self-described social butterfly. “I do love meeting new people and talking to people and understanding them and how their brains work,” she said. She found other ways to stay connected with friends through after-school activities.

At 10, she earned her associate degree in psychology at the College of Lake County in Illinois. At 12, she received her Bachelor of Science in humanities at Excelsior College in New York, and at 14, she earned a Master of Science from Unity College in Maine. She chose those fields because they can help scientists “understand why people treat the environment the way they do,” she told Time for Kids in a July 2020 interview.

Ellen Winner, a professor of psychology at Boston College and the author of “Gifted Children: Myths and Realities,” said that children like Dr. Tillman have a motivational intensity she calls a “rage to master.”

“One of the reasons they push themselves is they have a high, innate ability of some kind, and so learning, in whatever they are gifted in, comes easily to them and it’s very pleasurable,” she said. Schools are often not equipped for such gifted children, she added, which may lead parents to home-school their children. The trade-off, she and some experts say, is missing out on socialization and learning with children their age.

“There’s no perfect solution to kids like this,” Ms. Winner said.

Jimalita Tillman said she was sure her daughter was finished with higher education after earning her master’s degree. Dr. Tillman had just launched an organization to support Black youth in Chicago interested in STEM and the arts called the Dorothy Jeanius STEAM Leadership Institute. It was 2020, just after the beginning of the pandemic.

She was surprised when her daughter said she wanted to pursue her doctorate, and even tried to dissuade Dr. Tillman. But Dr. Tillman wanted to help young people with their mental health. She told her mother to trust her.

“I had to follow her lead,” Jimalita Tillman, 42, said.

Dr. Tillman was accepted into the management concentration at Arizona State’s College of Health Solutions, an online doctorate program. Her thesis on developing programs to reduce the stigma for college students seeking mental health services was based on a study she conducted for an in-person internship at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Dr. Tillman hopes her story resonates with girls who are talkative, outgoing “out-there kind of girls who are trying to figure themselves out but are very smart.”

“I want them to see someone who has taken that energy, sparkle and excitement and packaged it in a way that is classy and beautiful,” she said.

Dr. Tillman may now have her doctorate, but she’s also excited about teenage things — like attending a prom. On Saturday, she going as her best friend’s date to his senior dance. They’re taking an Escalade outfitted with stars on the ceiling, she said, a feature she requested and that her mother made happen.

Dr. Tillman has been focused on school and her professional pursuits, and she plans to host her institute’s summer camp again. Then, she said, she plans to take a beat and have a “fun teenage summer,” doing things she loves, discovering new hobbies and figuring herself out in the process.

“I want to focus on who I am,” she said.

King receives honorary degree from Boston University

June 7, 1959

At Boston University’s commencement exercises, held at the Boston Garden, King recites the benediction and receives an honorary degree from his alma mater.

Protesters gather outside Harvard University commencement after some students denied degrees

C AMBRIDGE - Protesters gathered outside Harvard University Thursday morning during the school's commencement ceremony, one day after it was announced that 13 students who participated in a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus would not be receiving degrees.

Supporters of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas lined up by the entrance to Harvard Yard with signs calling for an end to the war in Gaza. 

Harvard encampment participants not allowed to get degrees

Harvard's top governing board overrode faculty who said the students should be allowed to graduate. Those students are allowed to participate in commencement ceremonies, but can't get their degrees.

"In coming to this determination, we note that the express provisions of the Harvard College Student Handbook state that students who are not in good standing are not eligible for degrees," the Harvard Corporation said in a statement. 

The encampment on Harvard Yard was the last remaining tent protest in the Boston area before protesters announced it was over last week. Interim Harvard president Alan Garber said he asked for schools to quickly consider reinstating suspended students , but said disciplinary decisions were up to the individual schools.

"We support these students"

"We support these students," one protester outside Harvard Thursday morning told WBZ-TV. "We insist that Harvard remove these penalties against them, and that Harvard take the demands of the students for divestment from companies doing business with Israel and from the Israeli government itself."

Protesters said they would be staying in the area throughout the day to share their message. Harvard's commencement ceremonies are scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Hundreds of Harvard students walk out of commencement ceremony in protest of Israel-Hamas war

CAMBRIDGE — Some 30,000 graduates, family, and friends filled Harvard Yard Thursday for the university’s 373rd commencement, but the ceremony, steeped in tradition and pageantry, was disrupted when hundreds of students walked out about halfway through it in solidarity with 13 classmates who were barred from receiving diplomas because of their involvement in an unauthorized protest of Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

The ceremony capped an academic year marked by upheaval and extraordinary unrest over the Israel-Hamas war, most recently with Harvard’s decision to prevent the 13 graduates from receiving their degrees during commmencement for violating university rules during their three-week pro-Palestinian encampment in Harvard Yard. That decision contributed to the dramatic demonstration Thursday, which was far larger and louder than protests at any other college commencement in the region thus far this spring.

The 13 students were allowed to join their peers in caps and gowns, but did not receive their diplomas at separate ceremonies later Thursday. All should get them after their term of suspension or probationary period is up, assuming they’ve met academic requirements and have returned to good standing with the university, according to Harvard. They can also appeal their penalties.

“Let them walk,” the protesters chanted before leaving about one hour into the program, meaning the 13 should be allowed to receive their diplomas. Many wore keffiyehs, waved Palestinian flags, and chanted or held signs and banners with slogans like, “For the martyrs” and “For Gaza.”

The protesters marched down Massachusetts Avenue to the Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church, where an overflow crowd enthusiastically received a string of student and faculty speakers.

“Welcome to the People’s Commencement,” said protest organizer Lea Kayali, a Harvard Law School student.

Others said the purpose of the walkout was to draw attention to the plight of the 13 students. “It was a show of civil disobedience and to honor my friends who were walking but denied their diplomas,” said Lucas Chu, a senior who participated in the walkout.

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Signs of recent unrest on campus, and reaction to it, were visible throughout the day, in speeches, on the stoles and sashes students donned over their robes, and even overhead as two planes towed Israeli and American flags across the sky over Harvard Square. Outside the wrought-iron gates of the Yard, a truck emblazoned with the photos and names of pro-Palestinian students drove around with messages accusing them of antisemitism.

Commencement Day came the morning after the Harvard Corporation, the university’s top governing board, overruled the recommendation of faculty and barred the 13 from receiving their degrees. The decision shocked many who felt the protesters were being unfairly punished because of political pressure on university leaders. The Corporation said Harvard should not change the rules for one subset of students.

In his opening remarks, interim Harvard president Alan Garber, who took over in January after the resignation of his predecessor, Claudine Gay, seemed to reference the suffering in the Middle East.

“This moment of joy for us,” he said, “coincides with moments for others we cannot comprehend.”

“Elsewhere people are experiencing the worst days of their lives,” Garber said. “Here and there, we are all human beings, seeking connection and contentment, finding comfort in communities and rituals, trying, as difficult as it may be, to make sense of things as they are, to make sense of one another and of ourselves.”

As Garber concluded his speech, some in the crowd booed for several seconds before hushing into a moment of silence.

Speakers mentioned the turmoil on campus and told students to use their experiences this year to make the world a better place.

Shruthi Kumar, who was chosen to give the senior English speech, was sharply critical of the Harvard administration, expressing disappointment at what she called an “intolerance for freedom of speech” on campus. She said she and several classmates of color had been doxxed during the fall for protesting on behalf of Palestinians. She also spoke out on behalf of the 13 who could not receive their diplomas.

“This is about civil rights and upholding democratic principles,” Kumar said. “The students have spoken, the faculty have spoken. . . . Harvard, do you hear us?”

The crowd erupted in applause, some chanting “shame, shame, shame,” while others rose in an ovation.

Another speaker, Robert L. Clinton, a graduating Harvard Law School student, encouraged classmates not to be “neutral or apathetic in the face of injustice.”

He told seniors to use their vulnerability as a basis for connecting with others. “We will bear responsibility for making decisions that will change other people’s lives,” he said.

Harvard leaders had warned encampment protesters, who were demanding the university divest from Israeli assets, several times that they would face discipline for continuing to violate campus rules with their encampment. Student organizers said they dismantled the encampment last week with the understanding that discipline would be lenient and graduating seniors would receive their degrees Thursday, based on their understanding of their communications with Garber.

Several faculty members said the punishments were harsher than sanctions past campus activists received.

Erick Torres Gonzalez, one of the 13 seniors barred from graduation, wore a keffiyeh draped over his robe.

“I’m feeling anxious and nervous and frustrated,” he said before the ceremony. “I love that I’m able to be here with my friends and graduate, but it’s bittersweet that I’ll be walking away” without immediately getting his diploma in cognitive psychology.

The headline speaker Thursday, journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, acknowledged the intractability of the Middle East war, which has rocked US college campuses since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Fueling much of the division and animosity, Ressa said, are big technology companies and social media platforms that publish information that blurs the lines between fact and fiction. The war is not just taking place in Gaza, she said; “It’s in your pockets. Each of us are fighting our own battle for facts.”

“You are Harvard,” Ressa said. “You better get your facts right because now you are being tested . . . . If you future leaders don’t fight for democracy now, there will be little left for you to lead.”

Harvard Chabad Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi later confronted Ressa onstage over a comment in her speech about “money and power” that he felt was antisemitic. He told the Globe that he was not satisfied with her response, so he walked off the stage. Ressa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One graduate, David Berthiaume, said he wasn’t able to get a clear view of protesters during the ceremony, but would have preferred they didn’t disrupt the ceremony.

”I was hoping it wouldn’t happen because I worked really, really hard to get this degree,” said Berthiaume, 43. “I want the commencement to be about the hard work that us students did, and not about some protest on the fringe of what’s happening.”

Others seemed unbothered by the demonstration.

Emma Hedman, who graduated with a degree in management, sought cover from the rain outside the Smith Student Center after the ceremony with her parents, who traveled from Sweden. She said she supported the protesters’ decision to speak up for their beliefs.

“It’s really messed up if you suspend students and have the commencement speaker advocating for free speech,” Hedman said. “It really didn’t fit well together, and it makes the president and the rest of the board making the decisions look a little bit bad.”

Hedman’s mother, Anna-Karin, agreed. She was aware of protesters but said they did not disrupt the day.

”You have to take your stand and say what you want,” she said. “We have protests in Sweden, too.”

As he waited for the ceremony to begin, Delon Brewster said his daughter Cassandra is the first in his family to graduate from “an elite institution” like Harvard.

“Some days were pretty challenging, but she persevered,” Brewster said. “I said to my family, ‘I am not crying today. The last four years have been for crying. Today is a celebratory moment.’ ”

Globe correspondent Daniel Kool contributed to this report.

Hilary Burns can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her @Hilarysburns . Alexa Coultoff can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her @alexacoultoff . Lila Hempel-Edgers can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her on X @hempeledgers and on Instagram @lila_hempel_edgers .

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13 Harvard University students who participated in pro-Palestinian encampment will not get degrees

By Jordyn Jagolinzer

Updated on: May 23, 2024 / 7:09 AM EDT / CBS Boston

CAMBRIDGE - Thirteen Harvard University students who participated in the pro-Palestinian protest encampment on campus will not get their degrees at commencement Thursday.

The university's top governing board rejected a recommendation from faculty members to allow the students to graduate with their classmates. 

In an online statement explaining the decision, the President and Fellows of Harvard College said degrees would not be granted to students who are not in good standing or facing a disciplinary action.

Students not eligible for degrees   

"In coming to this determination, we note that the express provisions of the Harvard College Student Handbook state that students who are not in good standing are not eligible for degrees," the statement said.

The students will be able to participate in ceremonies but will not receive degrees.

"We understand that the inability to graduate is consequential for students and their families," the statement said. "We fully support the Faculty of Arts and Sciences' stated intention to provide expedited review, at this time, of eligible requests for reconsideration or appeal. We will consider conferral of degrees promptly if, following the completion of all FAS processes, a student becomes eligible to receive a degree."

The pro-Palestinian encampment at Harvard Yard was put up in late April and lasted nearly three weeks. The student group was calling for Harvard to divest from Israel and "reinvest resources in Palestinian academic initiatives, communities, and culture."  

• Harvard University

Jordyn Jagolinzer is a reporter for WBZ-TV. She joined WBZ in 2022 from WGGB/WSHM in Springfield, where she spent 5 years as an anchor-reporter.

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Harvard faculty urge college to let disciplined student protesters graduate on time

• Carrie Jung

At its regular meeting to discuss which students should obtain degrees this year, members of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences body recommended that 13 students disciplined over protesting against the war in Gaza be allowed to receive their degrees.

The move Monday came a day before Harvard's governing boards were scheduled to review the recommendation. Both the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers were set to decide Wednesday whether to ratify the faculty vote and make it official. Several members of the faculty group expressed optimism the boards would follow its guidance.

Last Friday, the university's Administrative Board opted to punish the undergraduate seniors for their participation in a 20-day-long pro-Palestinian encampment in Harvard Yard that folded last week . At least five students were suspended, and 20 others were placed on probation.

College policy allows the students to obtain their degrees, but only after their disciplinary matters resolve and they return to "good standing."

Kirsten Weld, a Harvard history professor and member of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences body, described Monday's vote as a "repudiation" of the Administrative Board's actions.

While the vote does not negate the disciplinary decisions, it made clear the faculty group's position that 13 of the seniors set to graduate this week should get their diplomas on schedule.

"It would be truly unprecedented and extremely corrosive of the relations of trust between the faculty and the administration for the Corporation or the Overseers to overturn such a decisive and well-substantiated and procedurally correct move," Weld said in an interview.

She also argued that Harvard statute gives the faculty group the ultimate authority to confer degrees to students.

In an open letter Monday, many Harvard faculty members criticized the sanctions against the seniors, saying they "undermined trust" in Harvard leadership because administrators led students to believe they likely could graduate on time in exchange for dismantling the encampment.

They noted that interim President Alan Garber told students he would encourage administrators to "expeditiously" evaluate students' disciplinary cases if the camp came down. However, Garber's May 14 letter on the camp did not make any explicit promises of leniency.

The faculty vote took place during the body's regular pre-commencement meeting to review the list of graduating seniors. Faculty in attendance said the measure got "overwhelming" support.

Ryan Enos, a political scientist and government professor, said the question as to whether these seniors could get their degrees on time drew more faculty than usual.

"This was, in many ways, very extraordinary," said Enos. "It was more [faculty] than I’ve ever seen at one of these meetings."

Weld and Enos said the affected students took a moment to celebrate after Monday's voice vote. Several of them, the professors said, expressed relief, but acknowledged they needed to await the governing boards' final decisions.

"This isn’t the first time that students thought something would go one direction and then seem to have been thrown a curveball," said Enos.

Harvard's main undergraduate commencement is set for Thursday.

"My sense is," Weld added, "they’re not going to feel better until they walk across that stage, receive the envelope and open it and see if there’s something inside."

• Pro-Palestinian encampment ends at Harvard, but organizers say the protest isn't over
• How Mass. colleges responded to student protest encampments

Carrie Jung Senior Reporter, Education Carrie is a senior education reporter.

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Institute for Global Sustainability Announces 2024 Graduate Student Summer Fellows

The third cohort of Graduate Student Summer Fellows at Boston University’s Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS) will pursue research projects on topics including energy consumption patterns, population exposure to water scarcity and extreme heat, the sustainability and key characteristics of several emerging technologies, and ecosystem restoration. The class includes eight fellows representing four departments across BU.

The Summer Fellows program at IGS offers graduate students a unique opportunity to advance their research in planetary health and human well-being, the governance and politics of sustainability transitions, and energy systems of the future. Each fellow receives a financial stipend, access to a peer network, and weekly opportunities for faculty engagement, mentoring, and professional development. At the conclusion of the 10-week program, all fellows present their research results.

“Every year, through the Graduate Student Summer Fellows Program, IGS convenes and supports promising researchers — each exploring a bold idea for confronting the climate crisis,” said Arunima Krishna, Faculty Lead, Graduate Student Summer Fellows Program; Associate Director, IGS; and Associate Professor, College of Communication. “We are pleased to welcome these talented scholars from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines to the IGS community and offer them meaningful opportunities for collaboration and growth.”

2024 Fellows & Projects

• Cultivating Resilience: Wastewatersheds as Beacons of Climate Adaptation in Agriculture , Adham Badawy (PhD student, Earth & Environment, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences). Focus: how treated wastewater reuse can be utilized as a climate adaptation measure for agriculture. This fellowship is supported by the Impact Measurement & Allocation Program to help investors mitigate against the climate risks associated with water scarcity . Advised by Andrew Bell, Affiliated Faculty, IGS and Associate Professor, Earth & Environment
• Rethinking How We Measure Indoor Heat Burden for People Living in Heat Islands , Pilar Botana Martinez (PhD candidate, Environmental Health, School of Public Health). Focus: the value of novel approaches to characterizing the burden of heat exposure for vulnerable populations in ways that are relevant to health and wellbeing. Advised by M. Patricia Fabian, Associate Director, IGS and Associate Professor, Environmental Health
• Assessing the Exposure of Socially Vulnerable Populations to Water Scarcity in Southern Europe: A Case Study of Portugal , Dalilah Paulino de Castro Campos (PhD student, Earth & Environment, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences). Focus: how socially vulnerable populations are disproportionately exposed to water scarcity in Southern Europe. Advised by Anne Short Gianotti, Core Faculty, IGS and Associate Professor, Associate Chair of Curriculum, Earth & Environment
• Assessing the Carbon Sustainability of Photonic Computing for Artificial Intelligence Systems , Farbin Fayza (PhD candidate, Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering). Focus: the carbon sustainability of photonics-based computing systems, which are used in data centers and autonomous vehicles for running artificial intelligence applications. Advised by Ajay Joshi, Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
• GDC-Infiltrated Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells for Hydrogen Production and Grid-Scale Energy Storage , Emily Ghosh (PhD candidate, Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering). Focus: the longevity of solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) in clean hydrogen production to minimize environmental impact from energy consumption. Advised by Soumendra Basu, Affiliated Faculty, IGS, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and Associate Division Head, Materials Science & Engineering
• Empowering Belizean Communities: Science-Based Solutions for Coastal Ecosystems , Mira Kelly-Fair (PhD student, Earth & Environment, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences). Focus: ecosystem services to improve protection and restoration of mangrove forests in Belize. Advised by Sucharita Gopal, Core Faculty, IGS and Professor, Earth & Environment
• Visualizing Modeled Spatial Patterns of Residential Heating Consumption and Efficiency in Massachusetts , Erin Polka (PhD candidate, Environmental Health, School of Public Health). Focus: the spatial dynamics of residential energy patterns across Massachusetts and how energy consumption and efficiency differ across the state. Advised by Jonathan Buonocore, Core Faculty, IGS and Assistant Professor, Environmental Health
• Cost Benefit Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Technologies and the Associated Health and Water Impacts in the United States , Brian Sousa (MS student, Environmental Health, School of Public Health). Focus: the infrastructure costs, emission reductions, health impacts, and water consumption of various renewable energy and carbon capture technologies in the United States. This fellowship is supported by the Impact Measurement & Allocation Program to enhance IMAP’s Corporate Carbon Risk project. Advised by Jonathan Buonocore, Core Faculty, IGS and Assistant Professor, Environmental Health

IGS pioneers research to advance a sustainable and equitable future. In addition to the Graduate Student Summer Fellows program, BU students can get involved with IGS through the Campus Climate Lab. Subscribe to the Institute’s email list to be alerted about future events, plus job, research, and educational opportunities.

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