UI's case of the vanishing degree for chief justice

URBANA – John G. Roberts Jr. might have won U.S. Senate approval two years ago to become chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, but his nomination to receive an honorary degree from the University of Illinois has stalled.

A year ago the UI Senate, a legislative body of faculty and students, approved awarding Roberts an honorary doctorate of laws degree, and the university's chancellor and president forwarded the recommendation to the board of trustees, which has final say over honorary degrees. But one day before the board was to consider a degree for Roberts, the recommendation was pulled.

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