Shashi Tharoor conferred honorary D.Litt by St Xavier’s University, his first in India

Diplomat-turned-Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was on Saturday conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) degree at the seventh convocation of St Xavier’s University, Kolkata, which he described as his first honorary doctorate in India.

The ceremony was held at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in New Town, where degrees were awarded to 1,052 undergraduate and postgraduate students. Twenty-five PhD scholars were felicitated and 17 students received gold medals.

In a post on X, Tharoor said he was “incredibly honoured and humbled” to receive the Doctorate of Literature (Honoris Causa), recalling that he had been the university’s first convocation speaker seven years ago.

“I have earned one doctorate the hard way and received a couple of others honoris causa, but this is my first honorary doctorate in India, and it is all the more precious to receive it as a Xaverian,” he said.

A four-term MP since 2009, Tharoor said he spoke about the values he imbibed during his education at Jesuit institutions, including intellectual curiosity, mental rigour, respect for hard work, self-discipline and the willingness to question received wisdom within a moral and ethical framework.

He underlined that education must go beyond information to formation and beyond competence to conscience, and emphasised that its ultimate worth lies in service to society.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP also expressed happiness at witnessing the strides made by women in academics, noting that most of the gold medallists were women.

“India’s future will not be written by slogans. It will be shaped by citizens prepared to combine skill with sensitivity, confidence with humility, and success with service,” he said, urging students to prioritise civic responsibility.

A former student of St. Xavier’s Collegiate School in Kolkata between 1969 and 1971, Tharoor described the recognition as deeply special.