More than 3,500 students will participate in two Wayne State University spring commencement ceremonies on Thursday, May 9, 2013. The ceremonies, which will conclude the university's 145th academic year, will be held at Ford Field in downtown Detroit. Receiving honorary doctoral degrees will be famed Detroit folk singer Sixto Rodriguez and local businessman and community leader Walter E. Douglas. Rodriguez, who earned a bachelor's in philosophy from WSU in 1981, will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree for his musical genius and commitment to social justice. Douglas will receive a Doctor of Laws degree for his years of service to the city of Detroit and his many entrepreneurial achievements, as well as his devotion to philanthropy throughout the city and beyond. Douglas is chairman of the board and majority stockholder of Avis Ford, a Southfield Michigan automobile dealership. The ceremonies will be one of the last major university events for President Allan Gilmour, who will retire in June. Gilmour stepped in to lead WSU in 2010 on an interim basis and was unanimously voted in as the institution's 11th president in January 2011.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/community/education/detroit-folk-singer-sixto-rodriguez-to-get-honorary-doctoral-degree-from-wayne-state-university/-/2318820/19934068/-/7m7jt9z/-/index.html
http://www.cadillacnews.com/ap_story/?story_id=112980&issue=20130430&ap_cat=2
http://www.wlns.com/story/22113780/sugar-man-rodriguez-to-get-honorary-degree
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/sugar-man-rodriguez-to-get-honorary-degree/9a055a1b05954c7ca966f7efacf680d0
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/04/30/sugar-man-rodriguez-to-get-honorary-degree/
http://washingtonexaminer.com/sugar-man-rodriguez-to-get-honorary-degree/article/feed/2094216
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Sugar-Man-Rodriguez-to-get-honorary-degree-4474515.php