The Dean’s Office at the Josef Korbel School has attempted to put out the fires of controversy over its plan to give an award to former President G.W. Bush, when he speaks at Korbel’s annual fundraising dinner, by changing the name of the award. However, this development is mere window-dressing. It’s the idea of giving Mr. Bush any award that’s so unthinkable.

Had those of us who have invested so much in the school ? the alumni, faculty and students ? been consulted when this unfortunate idea was first raised, we would have said, “Let Mr. Bush speak about anything he wants to, but please don’t insult everyone’s intelligence and sense of decency by giving him an award for having acted like the modern-day equivalent of a lawless, brutal Roman emperor.”

It’s not that it’s Mr. Bush, by the way, that is the only source of contention. Modern American presidents ? Republican or Democrat ? are poor candidates for humanitarian awards by the very nature and requirements of their office. None of them deserve additional accolades and glory when they leave office.

Unfortunately, the Josef Korbel School’s tradition of choosing the same person as its award winner and keynote speaker is an unwise practice that has left the selection process increasingly vulnerable to powerful partisan political and financial pressures.

But there is a commonsense solution that would not only save face for all concerned but enable Korbel to avoid such controversies in the future, eliminate its current vulnerability to choosing award winners based on their appeal to certain donors, and increase the dinner’s visibility and donor-drawing power.

We alumni, students and faculty deserve to see Korbel’s integrity and prestige as a global “top 11” school of international studies, along with its proud heritage of academic and intellectual freedom, continued unsullied. So we trust that the administration will recognize this  and respond accordingly.