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C OURIER THE
Issue 1228 Monday 14 March 2011 www.thecourieronline.co.uk
THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF NEWCASTLE STUDENTS
EST 1948
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University splashes the cash on honorary degrees
•Fancy dinners to honour famous faces • Almost £1000 spent on floral arrangements Simon Murphy News Editor
The University has lavished thousands of pounds dishing out honorary degrees to the wealthy and famous. In the wake of last week’s expenses scandal, The Courier can reveal Newcastle blew £14,656 honouring a government advisor, a playwright, and Toon legend Alan Shearer over the last three years. The figure is almost three times the amount spent by Northumbria University, whose bill for honorary degree ceremonies was just £5,673 over the same period. The extravagant sum could have covered a year’s tuition fees for five underprivileged students or paid for more than a dozen income-assessed bursaries.
“The figure is almost three times the amount spent by Northumbria University, whose bill for honorary degree ceremonies was just £5,673 over the same period.” Nationally universities have shelled out a staggering £1.3 million handing out the degrees – which are increasingly being used as PR stunts. The 17 famous names honoured at Newcastle over the last three years include former Magpies striker Shearer - who was made a Doctor of Civil Law - Billy Elliot screenwriter Lee Hall, BBC medical correspondent Fergus Walsh and government
Hats off? Newcastle University has spent almost £15,000 handing out honorary degrees to celebrities like Alan Shearer (pictured) and Bob Geldof over the last three years
advisor Sir Donald Curry. In 2007 the University even handed Irish rocker Bob Geldof an honorary degree in Civil Law. The majority of the cash was spent providing food and drink at swish after dinner ceremonies but a stag-
gering £961 was even used to fund floral arrangements. The new figures surface amid a backdrop of higher education cuts. Newcastle University is set to lose up to £7 million in government funding, while University chiefs are
insisting lecturers take a cut in their wages. Last week The Courier uncovered the colossal expenses claimed by the University’s Executive Board, which totalled just short of £150,000 since June 2008, including Vice-Chancel-
lor Chris Brink’s personal expense of £39,600. University chiefs have been holding secret crisis talks over the handling of the affair. The Journal reported on The Courier’s expenses exposé last Continued on page 2