Obama May Get Honorary ASU Degree After All; Officials Still Meeting About Issue

Arizona State University President Michael Crow and other ASU officials have been in a long meeting this afternoon to decide how to best honor President Barack Obama when he arrives to give a commencement speech, say his secretary. Crow (pictured) and ASU have been the target of jokes and...

By Ray Stern

April 10, 2009

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Arizona State University President Michael Crow and other ASU officials have been in a long meeting this afternoon to decide how to best honor President Barack Obama when he arrives to give a commencement speech, say his secretary.

Crow (pictured) and ASU have been the target of jokes and jabs since news broke that the university wouldn't bestow an honorary degree on Obama. A spokesman told news outlets that the honor was reserved for people who had a solid track record behind them, not someone whose "body of work is yet to come."

We expect a full reversal of that decision to be announced this afternoon -- it looks like Crow is going to have to eat some.

Officials say they'll notify New Times and other media outlets of the decision once the meeting breaks up. We'll update this post as soon as we hear something.

[UPDATE 4/11/09: Click here]

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.