Simone Biles is getting some harsh feedback after sharing that she received an honorary doctorate from Washington University.
“It’s Dr. Biles to you,” the Olympian captioned an Instagram post on May 12. “But in all seriousness ,thank you @washu for allowing me to do the commencement speech! Congrats to all the Graduates. Truly inspiring! Good luck with all your future endeavors!!”
In the comments section of the post, Biles added that she received her honorary doctorate, which is fairly common for athletes, celebrities and others who make significant contributions to society or to their respective fields.
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However, there were quite a few social media users who weren’t too thrilled about the honorary degree being handed over to Biles, and the comments section reflected such.
“As someone who has a doctorate that I studied and paid for, took years off my life, I will never understand honorary degrees,” one person wrote.
“I’m completely against giving ‘honorary doctorates’ to entertainers, celebrities, athletes, and anyone else who did NOT put in the insane hard work it takes to obtain such a prestigious degree. It is not something that should be given out as a ‘thank you’ to those who didn’t earn it. There’s a reason so few people actually have a PhD. It’s difficult as fuck and these universities think they’re honoring the recipient of these honorary degrees, while simultaneously slapping those who actually deserve the degree bcuz they EARNED it,” someone else said.
“I love you, but how would you feel if the Olympics awarded honorary gold medals? It would be demeaning to you because you worked hard and earned your medals. Those of us who have earned doctorates feel the same way about our degrees. They are earned, not handed out,” a third comment read.
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“Please do not assign yourself a title that the rest of us worked years to earn. I don’t call myself an Olympic gymnast, you are not Dr. Biles,” a fourth Instagram user added.
Other comments, especially on the Washington University Instagram page, were supportive of the honor bestowed upon Biles.
