LAUREATION ADDRESS

Renee Powell
Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws
Laureation by Professor Alan Cairns
School of Mathematics

25 June 2008

Vice Chancellor, it is my privilege to present Renee Powell for the Degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa.

Renee Powell is a professional golfer who competed successfully in the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour for thirteen years after turning professional in 1967, and since then has established a reputation as an outstanding teacher of the game. While excellence in golf is a matter of some importance here in St Andrews, it is by no means the only reason why we should honour Renee Powell today. What we should really celebrate is her commitment to helping others to benefit from the sport, particularly young people who might not otherwise enjoy its benefits.

Renee Powell celebrates with her father after receiving an honorary doctor of laws degree from The University of St. Andrews. (Photo: The PGA of America)

To understand Renee's commitment to human rights and to helping disadvantaged youngsters it is necessary to look at some family history. Her father William designed and built Clearview Golf Club in East Canton, Ohio, in the middle of what was once a centre of steel making and heavy industry. Built here is meant literally, the course being carved out of farmland by William and his family while he worked nights as a security guard to support them. To this day it is still the only course in the world designed, built, owned and operated by an African American. To fully appreciate the remarkable nature of William Powell's achievement it has to be realised that Clearview was created immediately after his return from service in World War II, long before the era in which racial segregation became illegal or was even considered anything other than normal. In Clearview, William, to whom most golf courses were closed, created a golf course open to everyone and his vision of inclusiveness continues to inspire his daughter.

With this background it must have been inevitable that Renee would take up golf and indeed her father started her on her career by buying her a small club when she was three. By the age of twelve she was ready to enter her first tournament and played with considerable success as an amateur before joining the professional tour. She competed in tournaments around the world and represented the United States a number of times in matches against Japan. She was the second of only three African American women to play in the LPGA tour since its inception in 1950 and in her early years experienced a number of difficulties and indignities. These included having to be driven around by white colleagues for her own safety and being refused service in restaurants.

Since retiring from the professional golf tour Renee's main passion has been to promote her father's vision of golf as a sport accessible and affordable to all. Clearview was placed on the United States National Register of Historic Places in 2001 and in the same year the Clearview Legacy Foundation was set up to help preserve and develop the course in honour of William Powell and his unique contribution to the fight against racial prejudice. Renee is now Head Professional at Clearview but combines this with many other commitments. She has played an important role in the First Tee Program set up by the World Golf Foundation with the objective of promoting character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf. In the modern world golf is perhaps the sport with the most plausible claim to promoting integrity and positive behaviour. She also has more local connections with New Links, a charity set up to allow young people who would not otherwise have the opportunity to visit St Andrews and play its golf courses. This year she will bring four young golfers from the US to play here. Last year she was in St Andrews on the occasion of the British Women's Open when it was played for the first time over the Old Course and gave a keynote address here at the University.

Renee has received many honours from the world of golf, too many to list here, but amongst the most notable is her First Lady of Golf award by the Professional Golfers Association of America in 2003. Situated as it is, it is natural for the University of St Andrews to confer honours on eminent golfers from time to time. However, in Renee Powell we honour someone whose achievements transcend the world of golf and move into much broader issues of human rights, racial equality and the treatment of disadvantaged members of society.

Vice Chancellor, in recognition of her major contributions to golf and to combating inequality I invite you to confer on Renee Powell the Degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa.