Ben Affleck for an honorary doc-torate (“The Honorary Degree Recipients,” Elms, July/August)? Really? Nothing wrong with going Hollywood—but this guy? Before Martin Scorsese, Denzel Washington, Helen Mirren, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Walken, Harvey Keitel, Ellen Burstyn, David Lynch, Al Pacino, and any of the others who have spent long careers doing challenging, provocative, meaningful work? Instead the honor went to this forty-year-old whose résumé is so thin you couldn’t list three of his starring roles without including Daredevil. Who’s next, Will Smith? Hey, I hope he wrote a big check, at least.

Tony Lioce ’68
Berkeley, Calif.
tonylioce@comcast.net