COMMENCEMENT 1987

Claremont Graduate School held its 60th annual commencement ceremonies Saturday in Bridges Auditorium. Archibald Cox, former Watergate special prosecutor and Carl M. Loeb University professor emeritus at Harvard University, delivered the keynote address. He asked, “How could a charter of government written in 1787 serve so well through 200 years of constant change? There is a lesson in this answer for all of us as citizens, but particularly for the Select Senate and House committees currently investigating the Iranian arms shipments and military aid to the contras in Nicaragua. If the framers were here, surely they would go beyond exposure, personalities and current politics to ask two long-range questions. First, what has happened to respect for the rule of law in the United States, especially in and about the White House? In the Watergate and Iran- contra affairs--twice within 15 years--men high in the executive office of the President have displayed extraordinary indifference to the rule of law. . . . Second, the framers would surely ask was the belief that the President’s men may suspend the rules purely a matter of personality or was it at least partly the consequences of mistakes in structuring governmental organizations, specifically the White House staff?”

Degrees: 207 diplomas awarded, including 47 doctoral and 160 master’s degrees.

Honorary Degrees:

Cox, doctor of laws.

Malcolm M. Lucas, chief justice of California, doctor of laws.

Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund, doctor of laws.

Edward H. Levi, former U.S. attorney general and president emeritus of the University of Chicago, doctor of laws.

Ronald M. Dworkin, professor of jurisprudence at Oxford University, doctor of laws.

Other Graduations:

Loyola Marymount University held its 75th annual graduation ceremonies at 10:30 a.m. Saturday on the Regent’s Terrace in the Sunken Gardens. U.S. Rep. Tony Coelho (D-Merced) delivered the commencement address. Honorary doctor of humane letters degrees were awarded to Coelho, Peter F. Drucker, professor and business author, and actress and community activist Carmen Zapata, along with 950 undergraduate and 318 graduate degrees.

U.S. Sen. Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.) spoke to 178 graduates at the Pepperdine University School of Law’s commencement exercises that were held at 10 a.m. Saturday outside the McConnell Law Center. Honorary doctor of laws degrees were awarded to Hatfield and retired Malibu Municipal Judge John J. Merrick.