Taylor Swift will need to make space on her groaning awards shelf for a new type of accolade.
Yesterday, New York University announced that the singer-songwriter will receive her first college degree in the form of an honorary doctorate.
Swift, who has been touring, writing and recording music since high school, will become Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa. The singer has won eleven Grammy Awards over the course of her career, something the university was quick to point out.
“Ms. Swift is one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of her generation,” it said in its statement.
Currently, she is also the only female artist to win the Grammy for Album of the Year three times, and was given the Global Icon Award at the 2021 BRIT Awards last year.
As well as receiving the honour on the morning of May 18, she will also be addressing 2022’s delegation of graduates and guests of the university at its commencement exercises at Yankee Stadium.
The pop star will be receiving her degree alongside several other notable names, including disability rights activist Judith Heumann, who will become a Doctor of Humane Letters, and will also be addressing the university’s 2020 and 2021 graduates at an evening event on May 2018.
For NYU students, the award isn’t totally unexpected: last month, the university launched a Swift-themed course, which would cover “Swift’s evolution as a creative music entrepreneur, the legacy of pop and country songwriters, discourses of youth and girlhood, and the politics of race in contemporary popular music”.
Which other celebrities have honorary degrees?
The Queen
Does Her Majesty count as a celebrity? Arguably, the Queen is in a class all of her own, but she does also have an honorary degree. All the way back in 1946, when she was still Princess Elizabeth, she received an honorary Bachelor of Music degree from the University of London. If that’s not enough, she also has a Doctorate in Music from the University of Wales.
Given that she’s been playing the piano since the age of eleven – as well as the organ and madrigal –it’s not a surprise.
JK Rowling
The controversial Harry Potter author earned a BA in French and Classics from Exeter University the hard way, but that didn’t stop her adding another to her collection. In 2004, she received a degree honoris causa from the University of Edinburgh – the city where she conceived of and wrote the first Harry Potter book – in recognition of her contributions to children’s literature. Today, she has at least seven of them, including a Doctor of Letters degree from Harvard. Not bad.
Kanye West
Despite quitting college at 20, the artist formerly known as Kayne West (currently going by Ye) built a thriving musical empire for himself on the back of his talent for rap. However, in 2015 he was given an honorary doctorate from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, technically making him Doctor West.
"I am a pop artist. So my medium is public opinion and the world is my canvas,” he said in his acceptance speech, before saying he didn’t feel that people needed to apologise for their opinions. Very Kanye.
Meryl Streep
Iconic actress Streep has universities queueing up to give her honorary doctorates: in fact, she has four of them, three of which come from Ivy League Universities. In 1983, she was made a Doctor of Fine Arts at Yale University; in 2009, Princeton awarded her the same honour, and in 2010, so did Harvard. Not bad going: we wonder if they sit next to her three Oscars.
Billy Connolly
Longtime comedian Billy Connolly also has a clutch of honorary degrees, but in 2017 he was given one from the University of Strathclyde for his contribution to society. It might have been a bit of a comedown for the actor: earlier in the year, he was given a knighthood.
After being named in the Honours List, Connolly joked that he should be called Sir Lancelot, as Sir Billy didn’t have “the same ring to it”. What about Doctor Billy?
