It was supposed to be a celebration. May 2025, Smith College. The sun was likely hitting the brick buildings of Northampton just right, and the Class of 2025 was ready to move on to whatever comes after an elite liberal arts education. On stage stood Evelyn Harris—a powerhouse musician, a former member of the iconic a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, and a local legend in the Pioneer Valley.
She was there to receive an honorary doctorate. She was there to inspire.
But within forty-eight hours, the story shifted from "local hero honored" to "academic integrity scandal." Honestly, it’s one of those situations that feels like a slow-motion car crash once you see the details. Evelyn Harris relinquished her honorary degree after it came to light that her commencement speech was, well, heavily "borrowed."
The Speech That Changed Everything
Here is the thing about commencement speeches: they are almost always a collection of platitudes. You hear about "following your North Star" or "changing the world" so often they start to sound like white noise. However, at a place like Smith College, the Honor Code isn't just a suggestion. It is the bedrock of the institution.
When Harris delivered her address on May 18, 2025, it resonated with the crowd. She’s a performer; she knows how to hold a room. But soon after the ceremony, people started noticing some very familiar phrasing.
It wasn't just a few similar ideas. According to a letter sent to the community by Smith President Sarah Willie-LeBreton, Harris had used significant portions of speeches delivered by others at different graduations without any attribution.
No footnotes. No "as so-and-so once said."
The Fallout and the Relinquished Degree
By Tuesday, May 20, the news was official. Harris was giving the degree back.
President Willie-LeBreton’s letter was careful but firm. She noted that Harris was "forthcoming about her choices" during their follow-up conversations. Harris reportedly explained that she wanted to "infuse the words of others with her own emotional valence."
Basically, she saw the words as a script or a song to be interpreted rather than a paper to be cited.
That’s where the friction lies. In the world of music—especially the gospel and folk traditions Harris comes from—sharing, repeating, and "testifying" through the words of others is a form of respect. It’s oral tradition. But in the world of Smith College? That’s just plagiarism.
A Community Divided: Was Smith Too Harsh?
Not everyone think Smith handled this well. In the weeks following the incident, local newspapers like the Daily Hampshire Gazette were flooded with letters.
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Friends and colleagues of Harris, like Jason Trotta of the Northampton Community Music Center, pointed out that Harris isn't an academic. She’s a singer. She’s an activist. They argued that Smith failed her by not providing clear guidelines or vetting the speech more thoroughly before she stepped onto the podium.
"One has to wonder why Smith College failed to provide sufficient guidelines to ensure that Evelyn's speech met strict academic standards with which she might not be familiar," Trotta wrote.
It’s a fair point. If you invite a jazz musician to a chemistry symposium, you don't get mad when they don't use a periodic table.
On the flip side, some alumni felt the college had no choice. If a student had done the same thing on a term paper, they’d be facing a Dean’s Panel and potential expulsion. Giving an honorary "doctorate" to someone who bypassed the most basic rule of academia—do your own work—felt like a slap in the face to the students who spent four years grinding for their degrees.
Who is Evelyn Harris, Really?
To focus only on the speech is to miss who Evelyn Harris is. We’re talking about a woman who spent 18 years with Sweet Honey in the Rock. She has spent her life using her voice to fight for civil rights and social justice.
- She fronts the StompBoxTrio.
- She directs the Ujima Singers.
- She is a staple of the Western Massachusetts arts scene.
She didn't get the invite to Smith because she was a scholar; she got it because she’s a "custodian of the messages of social justice," as some supporters put it. The irony is that the very thing that made her a great candidate for the honor—her ability to channel collective voices—is exactly what led to the degree’s revocation.
The Lingering Questions about Academic Integrity
This whole mess at Smith College raises a bigger question about honorary degrees in 2026. Why do we give them? Usually, it's for PR or to celebrate a life well-lived. But as soon as you put "Doctor" in front of someone's name, you’re measuring them against an academic yardstick.
The "dissonance," as the President called it, was too much to ignore.
Smith eventually scrubbed the highlights of her speech from their website. They moved on. Harris moved back to her work in the community.
But the "Evelyn Harris Smith College" story serves as a weird, modern parable. It’s about what happens when the world of soul and performance hits the world of citations and ivory towers.
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What You Can Learn from the Incident
If you’re a public speaker or someone being honored by an institution, the "Evelyn Harris" situation offers a few clear, non-academic takeaways:
- Context is King: Understand the "religion" of the place you are visiting. At a university, the "religion" is original attribution.
- Transparency Wins: If you love a quote, use it. Just say who said it. Even a "As my grandmother used to say" or "In the words of a famous leader" goes a long way.
- Vetting is Safety: If you’re the one hosting a high-profile guest, read their script. It protects the guest as much as the institution.
The most important thing to remember is that a single moment of "borrowing" doesn't erase fifty years of activism, but in the digital age, it’s often the only thing the Google snippet remembers. Avoid the shortcut; keep the degree.