UH Board of Regents award honorary degree to comedian great Carol Burnett

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The University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents has awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree to Carol Burnett, a world-renowned philanthropist and living legend in the entertainment industry.

The degree celebrates the legacy the long-time TV actress and part-time Hawaiʻi resident has established through the Carol Burnett Fund for Responsible Journalism in the School of Communications in the College of Social Sciences (CSS) at UH Mānoa. The fund was endowed with money Burnett was awarded after winning a successful libel suit against the National Enquirer. 

"Numerous CSS students have received training and recognition in the study of ethical journalism thanks to her generous gift,” said CSS Dean Denise Konan. “The beneficiaries of her contribution are the next generation of journalists and will result in a better-informed, better-served public.” 

The degree was presented by the UH Board of Regents Chairman Ben Kudo to Burnett at her March 7 show “An Evening of Laughter and Reflection Where the Audience Asks Questions" at the Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu. 

The Carol Burnett Fund for Responsible Journalism also established an annual lecture series that brings prominent mainland journalists and/or ethicists to the Mānoa campus. Guest speakers provide a formal public lecture, participate in a panel discussion with Hawaiʻi journalists, and interact with students in the classroom. 

The next Burnett lecture will be given by Bryan Pollard on Monday, March 23, from noon to 2 p.m. in the UH Mānoa Campus Center Dining Room. Pollard is a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University in California and former president of the Native American Journalists Association.

PHOTO LINK: http://go.hawaii.edu/haA

Photo caption: (L-R) UH Mānoa College of Social Sciences Dean Denise Konan, Carol Burnett, UH Board of Regents Chair Ben Kudo.