Oxford Awards Clinton University's Top Degree

OXFORD, England -- Oxford University, which has produced most of Britain's prime ministers, awarded a doctorate to its first American president Wednesday -- a man who spent some of his student days organizing anti-war protests. President Bill Clinton, at the end of an eight-day trip to lionize Allied heroes from World War II, continued that theme in his acceptance speech, saying his journey to war battlegrounds "profoundly deepened my own commitment to the work the people of the United States have entrusted to me." Urging peacetime efforts to improve the world, Clinton said, "History does not always give us grand crusades, but it always gives us opportunities." Dressed in a crimson robe, Clinton received a doctorate in civil law by diploma at the 17th-century Sheldonian Theater. Such degrees are conferred only on heads of state and members of royal families in recognition of statesmanship. Clinton made no mention of his war protest activities as a student at Oxford, but he did acknowledge the 250 Oxford students who staged a sit-in demonstration aimed at him. Their shouts filtered into the hall during the ceremonies. He called it part of Oxford tradition. "Everything from disputes over battles to the nature of the Italian government to the character of the word 'skinhead' is being debated even as we are here," Clinton said. Clinton studied politics at Oxford's University College as a Rhodes scholar from October 1968 to June 1970 but did not complete work on a degree. The degree citation -- in Latin -- praised Clinton as "a doughty and tireless champion" of peace and a foe of gridlock. "He has a powerful collaborator in his wife," especially in health reform, it said.