Honorary Degree Citations

Esther Newberg '63

In today's world, every individual will be challenged to remake her career at least once. You, Esther Newberg, have already made it to the top of two professions, making it clear that keen vision and sharp intellect are the keys to success.

As a government major and activist at Wheaton, you grasped fully the importance of political service before it became fashionable. Your gift for perceptive analysis and persuasive action propelled you quickly into a position of prominence in politics. You served on the staffs of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Abraham Ribicoff and as staff director for Congresswoman Bella Abzug. You also played key roles in the presidential campaigns of Senator Edmund Muskie and Congressman Morris Udall.

Then, while enjoying success as a political operative, you decided to launch yourself into the world of books. The insight and incisive wit that guided politicians so ably struck a chord with writers and publishers. Now, as the senior vice president of the nation's largest entertainment agency, International Creative Management, you play a central role in selecting what the world reads. Your roster of clients is a who's who of best-selling authors: Patricia Cornwell, Thomas Friedman, Michael Beschloss and Caroline Kennedy to name a very few.

You may not have written the book yet on how to get to the top of your profession, but you clearly are well qualified. And if you do, we're sure it will be a best-seller. Esther, it is a great pleasure to present you with this honorary degree.

Patricia Phelps de Cisneros '69

There is a texture in the art of Latin America that both soothes and incites. Its hues are gifts of a sacred earth, and its vision is born of earthly struggle. We are fortunate that the passion of artistic expression inspires Wheaton graduates like you, Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, to nurture the full potential of the human spirit.

Your work as chairwoman of the Fundación Cisneros--founded by you, your husband Gustavo and brother-in-law Ricardo--has been hailed as a model of philanthropy, and your organization has been honored for delivering hope and knowledge. Thanks to you and The Fundación, classrooms from Mexico to Argentina have much-needed technology and teachers to battle illiteracy; the world's foremost musicians have a venue in your native Venezuela to study and perform; those devastated by natural disasters have the tools to rebuild their lives; scientists and business leaders have a forum in which to study and conserve the fragile ecosystems of the region; and all of humanity has the opportunity to experience the breathtaking quality and diversity of Latin American culture and art through your Proyecto Orinoco and the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.

Venezuela has honored you with its highest award, the Order of Simon Bolivar, and last year France presented you with the Cross of the Legion of Honor. Today we express the continuing pride Wheaton has in your vital contributions. Please accept this honorary degree as a measure of our gratitude and admiration.

Catherine Keener '83

Celebrities bask in the glare of pop fame and paparazzi flashes. Being Catherine Keener, however, you have reached for, and achieved, a more illuminating and substantial brand of stardom: a well-deserved reputation for work that shines on its own.

Someone who wins an Acadamy Award nomination, a New York Film Critics Circle Award and other high-profile honors could never be described as living in oblivion. Yet it is clear that a commitment to interesting, high-quality work, not fame, is what drives you. We're proud to note that you discovered your love for acting at Wheaton, in the aptly named play Uncommon Women, while majoring in English and history. Your talent, evident from those first scenes, has grown with every role in lovely and amazing ways.

Your colleagues praise you for the way in which you inhabit characters, completely and naturally. You appear to act on instinct, but we know that happens only after careful thought--in choosing a project as well as in preparing for it. And you choose your celluloid friends and neighbors with equal care. Your partnerships with Tom DeCillo, Nicole Holofcener, Spike Jonze and of course your husband, Dermot Mulroney, play important roles in the art you create.

Whether walking and talking or simply listening, you invest every movement with meaning. Your work reflects the clarity and originality of your vision. Catherine Keener, we are pleased to welcome you back to campus and to present you with this honorary degree.

David Levering Lewis

At age 12, David Levering Lewis had the occasion to meet W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the 20th century's most influential intellectuals. Du Bois asked the young man what he planned to do with his life. "I have no idea what I could have said," you recalled in an interview. "My answer could have been, 'spend much of my life in your life.'"

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Fisk University, you earned a master's degree from Columbia and a doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science before devoting 15 years of your life to Du Bois--the activist, historian, scholar and co-founder of the NAACP. That work, along with your study of African American history, the civil rights revolution and the literature of racism, have made you one of the leading historians of our time. Your colleagues recognize you as a keen analyst, an accolade confirmed by two Pulitzer Prizes for your two-volume biography of Du Bois, the prestigious Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships, and a body of scholarly publications that spans the breadth and depth of the African American experience. Today, after 18 years as the Martin Luther King, Jr., University Professor at Rutgers, the History Department at New York University has lured you away for another prestigious position: University Professor.

We recognize you not only for your lasting contributions to academia, but also as a member of the Wheaton family: a past Ruby Lecturer and the husband of Ruth Ann Stewart, Trustee Emerita, here today to celebrate her 40th Reunion. Please accept this honorary degree as a measure of our great esteem and gratitude.

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