A guy who wears purple socks every day deserves an honorary degree. That, however, is not your only qualification. For more than fifty years you have exemplified the best of broadcast journalism. One of the few reporters to have covered the White House, Pentagon, State Department, and Congress, you have also interviewed every U.S. president since Richard Nixon. For almost twenty-five years you moderated the public affairs program Face the Nation. You earned praise for your capable moderating of presidential debates. The College of Communication at your alma mater, TCU, is named in your honor. You have won seemingly every broadcast journalism award there is, including the Edward R. Murrow Award, and have been named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress. As important as the substance of your work has been its style—cool, down to earth, probing but respectful, even handed. You have advanced the public good by showing how important civility is to civic dialogue. And, perhaps most fundamentally, you have been a model of integrity, both professional and personal, our appreciation of which has grown only greater over time.
I hereby declare you recipient of the honorary degree Doctor of Laws, entitled to all the rights, honors, and privileges appertaining thereto.
June 3, 2018