Kennedy to get honorary Harvard degree

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Harvard University, calling U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., a "tireless advocate" for education, plans to award him an honorary degree.

Harvard officials were originally set to bestow the degree last spring, but those plans were canceled because Kennedy was recuperating from brain surgery. The event has been set for Dec. 1 at a special convocation, the Boston Globe reported Tuesday.

"(Kennedy) has without doubt been one of our most tireless advocates for education -- and higher education in particular -- passionately committed to opportunity for all, and to the excellence of America's universities," Harvard President Drew Faust told the newspaper.

The ceremony, which will be held at Harvard's Sanders Theater, will feature Faust and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer as speakers, as well as musical performances by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Harvard students, officials said.