I am really taken aback at the honorary degrees being awarded this spring by Brandeis to Michael Oren and Dennis Ross.Oren was designated an Israel Defense Forces spokesman last year and was its apologist during attacks where the IDF dropped white phosphorus on Gazan civilians. Years ago, we repeatedly dropped napalm on Vietnamese civilians. Do we now know better? That's enough discredit to rule out an honorary degree. Maybe some day he will have his (Robert) McNamara moment.

Dropping white phosphorus or napalm on civilians anywhere and being an apologist for it is not my idea of social justice.

Ross bollixed Mideast negotiations. In his telling mea culpa, Aaron David Miller, foreign policy advisor to six U.S. secretaries of state, summarized Ross' revisionist recounting of their flawed, failed 2000 Camp David diplomacy: "You don't want to give centrality to how you f---ed up. Dennis could have never brought himself to do it, and neither could I." Miller concluded that American peacemaking efforts founded on being what he called "Israel's lawyer"-the role for which Ross is being recognized-cannot succeed. All that is enough of a failing grade at statecraft and international relations to rule out an honorary degree.

Even dual degrees to Judge Richard Goldstone and Dore Gold, who spoke together on campus this year, would have been better. It might have underlined the proper role of a university. Instead, Brandeis is making a very clear political statement, emphasizing what ex-Chairman of the Brandeis Board of Trustees and current Chair of the Presidential Search Committee Stephen Kay told the Faculty Senate Council three years ago: "We support Israel."

But a university is not a political action committee like AIPAC or J Street.

While I sympathize with his challenging position in having to spin the unspinnable, the public comments of Andrew Gully, the University's senior vice president for communications and external affairs, are not convincing. Oren is not "a great historian." No expert would rank Oren among the renowned historians of modern Israel in the class of Tom Segev or Benny Morris. While Oren might "contribute to dialogue," so would numerous unsuitable honorary degree candidates.

Freedom of speech has nothing to do with it. The First Amendment doesn't say you have a right to speak at commencement or get an honorary degree. Oren and Ross merit invitations to speak on any college campus. American campuses have heard the likes of Jimmy Carter, whose appearance at Brandeis I facilitated, Dan Meridor, Norman Finkelstein, Dore Gold, Richard Goldstone, Ethan Bronner and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. These speaking engagements don't imply that they deserve honorary degrees.

Politics aside, it's worth recalling the relevant words of the University's mission statement. It says:

"In a world of challenging social and technological transformations, Brandeis remains a center of open inquiry and teaching, cherishing its independence from any doctrine or government. It strives to reflect the heterogeneity of the United States and of the world community whose ideas and concerns it shares."

There are no exceptions in the statement for Israel, Zionism or Palestinian nationalism, even while individuals differ on these subjects. Honorary degrees to Michael Oren and Dennis Ross are University-sponsored hasbara-the Hebrew word for political propaganda, used positively by advocates and pejoratively by critics. Either way, these inappropriate honorary accolades do not reflect the heterogeneity expressed above.

In this instance, the administration, the president and the Board have failed to observe the letter and the intent of the University's own mission statement. This is not the first time that they have made this mistake, but it is among the more egregious of them.

Their actions also compromise Brandeis' commitment to social justice.

When Brandeis becomes a political and parochial advocate, it squanders the universality of its potential service to the greater community and demoralizes the communal spirit essential to commencement celebration. That observation is underlined in the disappointment being expressed by those across a wide political spectrum.

Years ago, my parents gave me a wonderful gift: a full set of academic regalia. I like wearing it at commencement. But I surely cannot in good conscience wear my parents' gift this year. To my faculty colleagues who agree with what I've said here: Don't compromise your public respectability through your presence in the implicit sanction of what is indefensible at a university.

Editor's note: The writer is a professor in the Computer Science department.