I was appalled at the thoughtless way in which Smith College handled the reversal of Evelyn Harris’ honorary degree. As pointed out by Bob Cilman and Julia van IJken in their recent letter, the college reviewed and approved Evelyn’s speech, which likely was written in the mindset of a musician, interpreting “covers.” Evelyn is not an academic and was not looking to plagiarize as the blaring headlines claimed. I’m sure she assumed the pre-approval of her speech took that nuance into account. Regardless of the decision, it should have been made privately between Evelyn and the college as there was clearly misunderstanding on both sides.

Catherine Bartlett

Northampton