University Cancels Wright's Degree - AOL News

University Cancels Wright's Degree - AOL NewsUniversity Cancels Wright's Degree
AP
Posted: 2008-05-01 17:27:40
EVANSTON, Ill. (May 1) - Northwestern University has withdrawn its offer of an honorary degree to the former pastor of Democrat Barack Obama.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright
Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

On Monday, Barack Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, said criticism of his sermons was an attack on the black church and suggested that the U.S. government created the AIDS virus in order to kill minorities.
A university official says the school had offered the Rev. Jeremiah Wright an honorary Doctorate of Sacred Theology.

But vice president for university relations Alan Cubbage now says the offer has been rescinded because of the controversy surrounding Wright. He also says the school wants "to ensure that the celebratory character of commencement not be affected."

Wright is the former senior minister at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. His criticisms of the United States have drawn criticism to Obama's presidential campaign.

A phone call to Wright's home wasn't answered.

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2008-05-01 16:28:50