Jon Bon Jovi has one. Meryl Streep has four. Even Kermit the Frog has been the recipient of one.

University honorary degrees bring attention to graduation commencements, and often donations to the institutions. They are often awarded to people who have excelled in their chosen fields, but have not taken the traditional steps to achieving them. And the designation “honorary” is intentional — they do not equate to the grueling process that a PhD student must complete before she can call herself “doctor.”

So the criticism being hurled at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for celebrating rapper Kanye West with an honorary degree last week is peculiar.