Where Honor Comes From
On Monday, May 15, 2000, Emerson College in Boston gave an honorary degree to Doris Haddock, who left the college as a junior to get married in 1930. The evening before, she was hosted at an event on campus. Here are her remarks, which were received with great enthusiasm.
Thank you.
Tomorrow I will receive a diploma that I have wanted very much since 1930, when I got married and dropped out of Emerson. Ever after that, in conversations throughout my life, I thought a little less of myself for not having that degree, and I would drop back a bit in shame --which was silly, I know. But I was surrounded by great thinkers all my life, and many of them had quite advanced credentials.
What I did do, however, that is a little satisfying is that I outlived them all.
And now, frosting on the cake, this wonderful honor in my 90th year.
It is always pleasant to be given the respect of others. But it is meaningless unless you first respect yourself, and that is an element of my long walk across America.
I certainly knew that Campaign Finance Reform was an important issue for America, and that I cared enough about it that I should do what I could.
I live on Social Security and I do not have a television show or a political action committee, but I knew that if I walked far enough, at my age, people would care to know what is worth this effort of mine.
That, of course, is what makes non-violent protest effective and ethical: we take the pain of social change upon ourselves, so that others will consider the issue more carefully, to better understand what motivates us to make this generous sacrifice.
My walk was difficult and it was painful. But I did not care for the difficulty or the pain because I valued what I was doing, and, by doing, I valued the life I had re-created for myself, even after so many years.
It is for all of us, I am sure, to engage the world with our deepest values. I think that is why we are here.
If we get honors or diplomas for it, so much the better. But the real honor comes from our own hearts. We honor ourselves when we strive to do the right thing, without regard to our advantage or comfort.
The degrees we are given represent the learning we have received. This was what I learned in the long walk to my Emerson diploma.
And now that we are all school chums, I want to ask a favor of you. I would like an opportunity to share with you someday soon my thoughts on why the present campaign finance system steals our representatitives away from us. I would like an opportunity, some day soon, to ask you if you do not agree that we are being subject once again to taxation without representation. And I might ask to impose upon you and our dear students to walk with me down to Boston Harbor and have another tea party to demonstrate our concern. I can't promise that we'll all be arrested, but we will do our best.
Thank you very much.