Good column from The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Jim Dey: UI leaders blast faculty decision to block honorary degree for Khan
Dec. 13—This week's vote by the University of Illinois faculty Senate to deny an honorary degree to local businessman and philanthropist Shahid Khan has provoked a furious response from top UI officials.
Chancellor Robert Jones called Khan, a UI engineering graduate and owner of automobile bumper manufacturer Flex-N-Gate, an "exemplary candidate for an honorary degree." UI President Tim Killeen said Khan has "earned our gratitude and the recognition of his alma mater."
UI Board of Trustees Chair Don Edwards upped the rhetorical ante by charging that Khan's faculty critics ignored their own rules in denying the honorary degree.
Consequently, he said a "thorough examination of current University Statutes and University Senate policies" is necessary.
Edwards said trustees have directed Killeen to "conduct a thorough review of such policies" and report back "with recommendations" by March 30.
"In the case of Mr. Khan, the Board believes the Senate set aside criteria (cited by its own committee) related to breakthroughs in scholarship, creativity, distinguished professional contributions, public service and innovative activity in industry while considering other criteria not supported in their own policies," Edwards said.
Faculty senate members voted by a 75-37 margin (with 29 abstentions) to reject a recommendation to award an honorary degree to Khan, one of the UI's most prominent graduates and donors.
The 74-year-old is a self-made billionaire who came to the United States from Pakistan at age 16 to study engineering at the UI. Using his engineering and business skills, he built a business empire and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
The vote came Monday after College of Engineering Dean Rashid Bashir made two separate but unsuccessful pleas in which he defended Khan's business practices from faculty critics who cited labor-related complaints made 10-plus years ago at a local Flex-N-Gate manufacturing plant.
Bashir said any manufacturer that operates on the scale Flex-N-Gate does is bound to have worker-safety issues from time to time. He said members of his committee looked into the issues raised then and are satisfied they "have all been resolved."
Flex-N-Gate, which manufactures automobile bumpers in countries all over the world, employs 26,000 people.
Professor Prasanta Kalita, who leads the senate's committee on honorary degrees, said its members "unanimously" recommended that both Khan and Thomas Burrill, a Chicago native who made his mark in the advertising industry, be awarded honorary degrees.
The Burrill nomination was approved by an overwhelming 133-4 margin without debate.
In presenting the Khan nomination, Kalita noted that deans from four colleges — engineering, applied health sciences, business and veterinary medicine — jointly recommended Khan be awarded an honorary degree.
The recommendation cited Khan's "professional achievements" that are marked by "leadership, hard work, persistence" and driven by his "commitment to service, society and his personal integrity."
"His story is the quintessential American dream,"Kalita said.
But various UI faculty members disagreed.
Faranak Miraftab, who teaches in the UI's urban planning department, described the Kahn nomination as "questionable" because she wondered whether it was motivated by Khan's financial gifts to the UI. She said "honorary degrees should not be awarded on that basis."
Stephanie Fortado, who teaches in labor and industrial relations and is also a member of the Champaign County Board, recalled joining protests over labor practices at the local Flex-N-Gate plant a decade ago.
"Some of the things we heard about were, frankly, terrible," said Fortado, who also complained about "unbelievable" environment and safety violations.
Kate Clancy, a member of the anthropology department, complained about news reports that Khan recently held a "yacht party" attended by politicians she deemed suspect.
"There are some ethical concerns," Clancy said.
This is the second time the UI faculty senate has voted to deny Khan an honorary degree. It did the same thing in 2013 after hearing complaints about labor practices at the Flex-N-Gate plant.
Jones said the UI "remains committed to the principals of shared governance and will continue to support an honorary degree for Mr. Khan."
But he warned that members of the faculty senate "must not subject our most accomplished alumni and other potential honorees to a process that disrespects and trivializes the achievements of the very people we are trying to honor."
Those words were echoed by local businessman and UI supporter Peter Fox, who called the decision "ridiculous" on its face, "insulting" to Khan and harmful to the UI and Champaign County community.
"It hurts the community because we're a two-horse town — the university and Carle," Fox said.
In recent years, Khan has expanded his business footprint to professional sports. He owns the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars as well as British Premier League soccer team Fulham F.C. He also is identified as a co-owner of All Elite Wrestling, which is overseen by his son, Tony.
Khan is well known locally for his financial support of various community facilities, including the Champaign Public Library and the Stephens Family YMCA, where he funded the aquatic center.
A 1971 UI graduate, he has received a variety of distinguished alumni awards over the years.aid.
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