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William G. Durden, president of Dickinson College, used a ceremony this week to award a posthumous honorary degree to the college's first black female graduate as a way to apologize to her family. Esther Popel Shaw graduated in 1919, and she encouraged her daughter, Patricia Shaw Iversen, to enroll there in the 1940s. DIckinson admitted Iversen, but would not let her live on campus. She then opted to attend Howard University. “There was an injustice committed by the college leadership decades ago against this family,” said Durden. “This action was plain wrong by any humane or moral standard. I wish to acknowledge publicly this wrong and apologize to the family members present on behalf of Dickinson College.”
