ASU: Where winning a World Series is a greater achievement than becoming 44th president

In May 2002, still on a high from the Arizona Diamondbacks winning the World Series, Arizona State University awarded an honorary degree to the team's CEO, Jerry Colangelo.

But the man whose revolutionary campaign elected him the 44th president of the United States and the first African-American to hold the job....not so impressive to ASU:

TEMPE, ARIZONA - Universities typically confer an honorary degree on commencement speakers, particularly those who have reached the pinnacle of their career or achieved the top of their field. Arizona State University (ASU), though, says it will not confer an honorary degree on this year's commencement speaker, President Barack Obama, because "his body of work is yet to come."

ASU Media Relations Director Sharon Keeler says, unlike other universities, the processes for selecting commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients are independent. She says that honorary degrees are given "for an achievement of eminence" and that Obama was not considered for an honorary degree because his body of achievements, at this time, does not fit within that criteria.

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