BOB KERREY
PRESENTS HONORARY DEGREE
TO ANTI-TERROR JUDGE –
SPAIN'S BALTASAR GARZON

New School University President Bob Kerrey today presented Judge Baltasar Garzón of Spain with an honorary degree as the University welcomed back students and faculty at its Convocation Ceremony.

"We are pleased to honor Judge Garzón with an honorary doctorate for his extraordinary work as one of the world's leading anti-terrorism judges," said President Kerrey. "He has risked his life to bring justice to those who use their power to terrorize the lives of the powerless."

"New School University prides itself on being a place where individuals can learn and develop without rigid rules or superfluous conventions that limit potential," President Kerrey continued. "Since nothing subverts human freedom more than terror, and nothing subverts terrorists more than those who have the courage to use the authority of the law, I can think of no one more appropriate than Judge Garzón to receive the honorary degree as we begin the 2002-2003 school year at New School University."

Earlier this week, Judge Garzón served an injunction against the Basque party Batasuna, for its perceived support for the armed separatist group ETA. He is perhaps best well known for his legal pursuit of Argentina's former military dictators and Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

In late 1998, Garzón issued an order of detention against Pinochet while he was in London undergoing medical treatment, charging him with crimes against humanity and for complicity in human rights abuses committed in Chile during his regime. Pinochet was held under house arrest in London until March 2000, when the British Foreign Minister decided to release him because he was deemed unfit to stand trial.

Judge Garzón first became a judge in 1978 when he was only 23 years old. He has attained a national and international reputation for investigating crimes ranging from organized crime, to terrorism, to government corruption committed both inside and outside Spain. Judge Garzón's bold steps in trying gross human rights violations have established groundbreaking legal precedent against heads of state who, no longer protected by sovereign immunity, may now be tried for crimes against humanity.

For further information on the ceremony, visit the University's Web site at: http://www.newschool.edu/admin/convocation/

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New School University, with 7,000 matriculated students and 25,000 continuing education students, is a New York City university committed to critical scholarship, artistic integrity, and ethical responsibility in the social sciences, humanities, the arts and design. It is comprised of a liberal arts foundation of three schools: The New School, Eugene Lang College and the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, and five professional schools: Parsons School of Design, Mannes College of Music, Actors Studio Drama School, Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, and the Jazz & Contemporary Music Program. New School Online University offers one of the largest selections of online courses in the nation. For further information about admission to New School University, call (877) 5Ave-321 or go to the Web site at www.newschool.edu.