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Page and David Armstrong (an anthropologist who also works at Gallaudet) had written to the Board of Trustees nominating Stokoe for an honorary degree. Markowicz had known Bill Stokoe for years, since being invited to the lab as a young scholar. Bill had been impressed with Markowicz's work and had published one of his papers in Sign Language Studies, a surprise to Markowicz because at the time he didn't have a master's degree. "I was soused to that academic mode that I was startled that Bill even took the time to read my work" 21
Armstrong's work has also been published in Sign Language Studies, and he and Stokoe are close friends. They lunch together so often, Armstrong says, that "Bill and I are due permanent seats at Colonel Brook's Tavern Armstrong describes the circumstances that led to the nomination.
Harry and I decided to nominate Bill for the degree because we were both distressed at the way he had been allowed to retire unrecognized, and we wanted to do something to repair the hurt that had been caused by the dissolution of the
Linguistics Research Lab. At that time, we thought we would be proposing the degree to aboard chaired by Jane Spilman and a university led by Jerry Lee. We were not at all certain of success, nor were we certain Bill would accept the degree if it were offered. We submitted our letter in December of 1987, along with supporting documentation.
Bill's nomination was to be one of the items of business following the election of anew president at the board's March meeting the following year.23
Three months after the Deaf President Now Revolution in May of 1988, the day came for Stokoe to be awarded the honorary degree. He decided to bring Ruth with him. "Even if she couldn't know what was happening" he explained, "she belonged therewith me."24
I. King Jordan remembers the occasion well it was a fitting tribute fora lifetime of extraordinary dedication and accomplishment:
I wanted Bill to know how Gallaudet felt about him. The response has been nothing but positive. Everywhere I go

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