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The
"Doctors" the "Professors" and
Counselors at Law
Thursday,
March 29, 2007
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
I
always thought the two-letter word that preceded his
name was actually his first name. But it wasn’t. As
a child, however, I constantly heard the press and
others referred to the Liberian president at the time
as “Dr. Tubman.”
Mr. Tubman set the precedent and encouraged the
Liberian people and those that came in constant
contact with him to call him “Dr.”
However, since his death in 1971, his
predecessors preferred to also be called doctors, as
in “Dr. Tolbert, Dr. Doe, Dr. Taylor and now some
are referring to the current president as “Dr.
Sirleaf,” as if that’s the only way Liberian
presidents can be validated.
To her credit, though, Ms. Sirleaf has been a
little shy about the press calling her “Dr.”
Sirleaf, but has yet to put an end to the practice
perhaps because it is to her taste.
This thing about being called Dr. reached
comical proportion during the Doe administration when
it was reported that Mr. Doe’s wife, Nancy, who used
to hear the press and others referred to her husband
as “Dr” Doe, actually thought her husband was a
medical doctor.
Because she did not know the difference between
a medical doctor and the honorary doctorate degree
that was bestowed on her husband, the story is told
she demanded her non-physician husband to treat her
when she got ill, until it was explained to her later
that her husband was not actually a medical doctor but
something else.
Liberians with PhDs are close to being
fanatical about wanting people to refer to them
constantly as “doctors” especially in casual or
non-academic settings,’ else, the individual will
lecture you to “please put a handle to my name.”
Another nuance I have often noticed is that
when a Liberian with a PhD writes an article to be
published in a non-academic journal like a newspaper
or an online newsmagazine, he or she will not
disappoint because the individual wants the PhD to be
attached to the name as if they are the only
enlightened souls on earth, which is the opposite.
The Liberian Dialogue’s editorial policies
has always been to recognize the MD, (medical doctor)
and delete the PhD as it is done by most respected
major newspapers, and just introduce the writer’s
profession, residence, and other worthy information we
think our readers ought to know about the writer.
I have yet to verify another joke told in
Liberia about a particular guy who has two PhDs, and
prefers to be called “Dr. Dr.,” with his last
name; else, he will quickly make the correction that
his PhDs be added to his name before he even can allow
the conversation to begin.
The Liberian press known for its shameless
pandering and incompetence continues to also clog
their reporting with wordiness when they are writing
about government officials and ordinary citizens.
A member of the House of Representative,
Ketterkumehn Earl Murray, who has a doctorate is
referred to in the Liberian media as “Representative
Dr. Murray.” Why
not called the man Rep. Murray?
Supreme Court Chief Justice Johnnie N. Lewis is
‘Chief Justice Cllr. Johnnie N. Lewis,' Minister
of Justice Frances Johnson Morris is ‘Minister of
Justice Cllr. Frances Johnson Morris,’
Solicitor-General Tiawon Gongloe is ‘Solicitor
General Cll. Tiawon Gongloe,’ as if the readers are
unaware these individuals are also Counselors-at-law.
Even university instructors with no trail of
professional academic papers or books to their names
are referred to as “professors” in the Liberian
media.
Wilson Tarpeh and Alhaji
Kromah, both of whom teach courses at the
University of Liberia, and have not written literary
works to be reviewed critically by their peers,
whatsoever, other than attaining college degrees are
often referred to as “Professor Tarpeh” and
“Professor Kromah” respectively by the Liberian
press.
Why not follow the standards set by leading
countries and institutions in nations we looked up to,
perhaps the U.S., since we claimed to be close to
guide us in the way we do things if we really want to
learn from our mistakes, or if we want to do things
the right way?
An example would be the way the former Speaker
of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, a
PhD in Modern European History, a firebrand intellectual
powerhouse, a former college professor who has written
many books, has written columns for leading newspapers
and has lectured extensively at major colleges and think
tanks is often referred to by the press and his colleagues.
In my many years of following American politics
and popular culture, not a day have I heard the press
or his political foes and allies casually or in
non-academic settings referred to Mr. Gingrich as
“Speaker Dr. Gingrich or “Dr. Gingrich.” He is
simply “Newt” or Newt Gingrich. That could change
if he were to be teaching or making an academic
presentation, at which time he may be referred to as
“Dr. Gingrich.”
There are also others with PhDs in the American
political and academic scenes that are often referred
to only by their first name, last name or full names,
yet are inspiring others and are contributing
immensely to the American society.
Vice President Dick Cheney’s wife Lynne
Cheney, author of many books, and contributor to
many leading journals; Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice, CNN political analyst Bill Schneider, Pollster
Frank Luntz, former House Majority leader and
Economist Dick Armey; Fox News analyst and Editor of
the Weekly Standard Bill Kristol, Columnist and
Economist Paul Krugman, E.J. Dionne of the Washington
Post and many others are holders of PhDs.
We often read about the contributions of these
individuals to the national debate and hear less about
the PhDs they acquired, because actions and
contributions to society speak louder than a mere PhD
gathering dust on a wall somewhere.
I don’t have anything against the brothers
and sisters with PhDs. Kudos to them for reaching that
milestone.
However, I wish Liberians would be humble
enough to let their good work shine before men, women
and God so that we will see their contributions to
society and what they can do to inspire and lead,
instead of flaunting what advanced academic
credentials they happened to have accumulated.
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