He once rapped about being a college dropout, but Kanye West will be receiving an honorary doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on May 11, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Dr. Kanye West.
He’ll be even more insufferable.
Lisa Wainwright, the dean of faculty and vice president of academic administration at SAIC, is the person responsible for West’s receiving the honor. Wainwright said she thought he deserved the award after reading an article in which West said he wished that he had attended SAIC.
“I read it and thought, ‘Wow, this is a fantastic moment.’ Here is this major figure in the cultural landscape promoting art school, this guy from Chicago saying art school is cool. So we thought, ‘This man deserves an honorary doctorate from us!’ He should have gone here. He would have been a perfect SAIC student—he likes to shake people out of complacency.” West will join the likes of Patti Smith, Jeff Koons and David Sedaris, who also received honorary doctorates from SAIC.
But not everyone is happy about West’s receiving the degree, especially alums of the school. “As an alum of SAIC, I am offended that the school’s exorbitant tuition and fees will help fund this nonsense,” said Corinna Kirsch, senior editor of New York-based art magazine Art F City.
Kirsch notes that West is receiving a degree for his music, “but the school does not have a music program, it has a fashion program, and I suppose you could honor Kanye West for his contributions to fashion, but … I don't know if that make sense. I just think this seems like a gimmick, like it is being given to the most famous person that they could get to honor.”
She apparently has not seen any of West’s contributions to fashion.
Everyone should now write about how much they wish they could have attended SAIC—maybe the school will hand out some more doctorates. That’s how it worked for West, right?