Gov. Receives Honorary Degree

Tradition will continue next month when Gov. James E. McGreevey receives an honorary degree from Rutgers University, but the school's outgoing president will not be there.

For nearly a century, Rutgers has presented the degrees to each new governor during their inaugural year in office. The honor is usually bestowed during the main universitywide graduation ceremony, but school officials said McGreevey's tight schedule required a change in plans.

Instead of attending the May 23 ceremony in Piscataway, McGreevey will get his degree and speak that day at a smaller Rutgers College convocation in New Brunswick. The university's Board of Governors voted Friday to formally approve the honor and the scheduling.

Rutgers officials said the arrangement was not designed to keep McGreevey and Francis L. Lawrence apart. The governor had reportedly questioned Lawrence's leadership abilities before he resigned Feb. 1.

"The offer was extended and we would have certainly welcomed (McGreevey) at the morning ceremony if his schedule could have accommodated it," Pam Blake, a university spokeswoman, told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday's editions.

McGreevey spokesman Paul Aronsohn would not comment on the governor's relationship with Lawrence, who will attend another commencement ceremony on Rutgers' Newark campus.

Lawrence could not be reached for comment.

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Author: 6 ABC-AP