May 19, 2015
Larry Kramer ’57 B.A.
Doctor of Humane Letters
As an author and dramatist, advocate and activist, you have been tireless in demanding the world’s attention to the plague of AIDS and in promoting treatment and research. By founding the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and then starting Act Up, you created a movement. Your long-running play, “The Normal Heart,” is among the most significant cultural forces of the last century, stirring our empathy and sense of social responsibility. Your legacy lives on at Yale, as your university is the honored recipient of the monumental gift of your own papers. For your courage and tenacity in speaking out and acting up, we are so pleased to award your second Yale degree: Doctor of Humane Letters.