Kevin Spacey has kept a relatively low profile in the last few years, choosing to focus on theater instead of movies. Since 2003 he has been the artistic director of London’s Old Vic Theatre, after directing its opening production of Cloaca. Since then Spacey – born in New Jersey – has spent most of his time in London. It seems that he’s been very much accepted by the Brits, as the University of Oxford just named Spacey its Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theater.

Spacey will succeed Shakespearean actor and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” star Patrick Stewart when the new academic year starts in October. Previous holders of the post, endowed by theater impresario Mackintosh, include composer Stephen Sondheim, playwright Alan Ayckbourn and actress Diana Rigg.

In a statement, Spacey said he was delighted to be appointed to the one-year post, which requires him to give lectures, workshops and seminars at the 800-year-old university.

“It really is an honor for me to have been invited to follow such illustrious names and take up this role at Oxford,” Spacey said. “The university is steeped in tradition and has a great heritage in the arts, and I look forward to working with the students and staff.”

The college’s master, Roger Ainsworth, said Spacey was “a truly international star and will bring an enormous wealth of talent and experience in both film and theater to bear on the role. He will be a huge draw for the student population of Oxford and to the wider public, too,” Ainsworth said.

[From the Huffington Post]

Talk about taking your craft seriously. As prestigious as it is to win an Academy Award (Spacey’s won two), being asked to teach at Oxford is even more of an honor. Though I don’t think it comes with anything shiny that you can stick on your mantel. What an awesome tribute to Spacey’s skills, and an exciting way for his students to spend the next year.

Here are Kevin Spacey and Benicio Del Toro at the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation Third Annual Gala Dinner at Hampton Court Palace in London, England on June 7th. Images thanks to WENN.

Paul McCartney’s life gets better every day. First he got Heather Mills officially out of his life. Now the former Beatle has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale. It’s really challenging to say which one of those things is a greater accomplishment. But I’m guessing as far as the day-to-day goes, not having to look at Heather Mills’ gaping maw probably brings Paul the most pleasure.

Paul McCartney can now add one more honor to the numerous awards, accolades and the knighthood he has already received. The ex-Beatle on Monday was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale University.

In granting the honorary degree to McCartney — Sir Paul McCartney since he was knighted in 1996 — the university said no one compares with the legendary songwriter.

Yale said the 65-year-old McCartney awakened a generation, giving a fresh sound to rock, roll, rhythm and blues.

[From the Associated Press]

More than 1000 students cheered for McCartney when he was awarded his degree. He looks pretty darn adorable – and quite pleased – in the photos from the event. If anyone deserves such a degree, it’s Sir Paul McCartney, PhD. That’s a lot of letters. Congratulations to him.

Images thanks to Splash.

Vanessa Williams, famous Ugly Betty actress, formerly disgraced Miss America, and singer of that one song in the early nineties, is finally getting her college degree. In 1983 Williams dropped out of Syracuse University after two years. She won the Miss America crown shortly after, and had to give it back after naked photos of her were published in Penthouse. Luckily Ms. Williams didn’t let some boobs keep her down, and she’s gone on to have a pretty successful career. Now, 25 years later, she’s getting her college degree, thanks in part to credit earned on the stage and screen.

Nearly 25 years after leaving Syracuse University, Vanessa Williams will get her bachelor of fine arts degree this weekend. The 45-year-old actress-singer, who stars in ABC’s “Ugly Betty,” will also deliver the convocation address Saturday to graduates of Syracuse’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Williams attended Syracuse’s drama department as a musical theater major from 1981-1983. She earned the remaining credits for her degree through industry experience and performances on stage and screen.

In 1983, Williams became the first black Miss America. She surrendered the title in July 1984 after Penthouse magazine published nude, sexually explicit photographs of her taken several years earlier.

Over her career, Williams has sold more than 4 million albums, won critical praise for her performances on Broadway, made dozens of TV appearances and starred in several movies. She has won a Tony, received two NAACP Image Awards and nine Grammy nominations. In 1996, Williams received the George Arents Pioneer Medal, the university’s most prestigious alumni award.

[From the Huffington Post]

I think that’s pretty cool. I really love it when celebrities actually go back to classes to finish their degrees – but it certainly seems fair to give a BFA to an actress, since theater work would have been a requirement for her anyway. I always think it’s a little unfair when universities give honorary degrees. It seems unjust that the rest of us had to work so hard for the same thing. Many schools do it in order to get someone famous to speak at their commencement, which I think cheapens the degree and the school’s reputation. But it seems to be a pretty common thing anymore.

Regardless, Vanessa Williams attended classes for two years and worked in the field of her major, so the university gave her actual credits, and her degree isn’t honorary. Congratulations to her and the rest of this year’s graduates.

Here’s Vanessa Williams with Michael Bolton and Jane Krakowski at the2008 Lincoln Center Annual Spring Gala in New York City on April 9th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

A lot of people would probably like to ban Brooke Hogan from being within 100 yards of them. I sure would. Imagine if the whole world could get a restraining order against her. How glorious that would be. Well three Florida universities have managed to ban her – or at least deny her admission to their fine academic halls. I know, I’m jealous too. I wish I could not just ban Brooke from places but also banish her to places – several volcanic, deserted islands come to mind.

Brooke, 19, wants to film her family’s crap-ass reality show Hogan Knows Best on campus – and in the classroom - thus totally disrupting the lives of the thousands of other students for her benefit. Luckily the first three schools she applied to were smart enough to say no.

Hoping to film the VH1 reality show Hogan Knows Best with a nine-camera-wielding production team, the young member of the wrestler’s family was denied admission at those institutions [the University of South Florida, Florida State University and the University of Central Florida] out of concerns that she and her crew might disrupt the others students’ academic lives, the Palm Beach Post reports.

The upshot was, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Hogan (real name: Brooke Ellen Bollea) went to the southeast coast of the Sunshine State and toured the campus of Florida Atlantic University – where she met with Student Government president Tony Teixeira and sorority and fraternity members, as well as tooled around the grounds on two golf carts hired by the show.

No decision has been made regarding Hogan’s permission to film on campus – or even if she’ll be admitted as a student, says the newspaper, which does quote FAU spokeswoman Kristine McGrath as saying, “The university would not agree to an arrangement that would be disruptive to the academic setting.”

[From People]

All three of the universities that declined to accept Brooke said they declined to accept her because they don’t want a show filmed on their campus and in their classrooms. But here’s what confuses me: if Brooke applied to these schools and had grades good enough to get in, wouldn’t she have been accepted – but just told that she couldn’t film there? Something makes me think this is just some PR on the part of the Hogan family to cover up for Brooke not getting accepted into all three schools that she’s been blabbing about.

Here’s Brooke Hogan about to bust out of her top in a super classy dress at the Grammys on February 10th. Does she really look 19 to you? Images thanks to PR Photos.

Actor Kal Penn from the Harold & Kumar movies is working a guest lecturer in Asian American studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He teaches two courses, “Images of Asian Americans in the Media,” and “Contemporary American Teen Films.” Penn has an undergraduate degree in sociology from the University of California and is working on a graduate certificate in international security from Stanford.

Penn contacted the department after he gave a speech for the college during Asian Pacific American Heritage week. Somehow a deal was reached to hire him, and while the director of the Asian American Studies program will not reveal Penn’s salary it is thought to be more than an average guest lecturer. He’s not doing it for the money, but it’s not a pittance either:

[Asian American Studies program director] Kao would not reveal how much more it cost to hire Penn versus the average adjunct professor, but he said that the Asian American Studies Program contributed a significant portion of its yearly budget, as did the Cinema Studies department contributed funding.

Penn is “really doing this because he wants to. He’s not going to get rich doing this,” Kao added.

The ASAM Program is relatively small, and students and administrators say that Penn’s arrival could increase its prominence.

“Kal Penn coming to Penn for a semester is going to be huge for the ASAM program,” College sophomore Rahima Dosani wrote in an e-mail.

[From the Daily Pennsylvanian]

A lot of students signed up for Penn’s class due to his celebrity status, but he says his popularity only goes so far when it comes to showing up for class and doing the work. Penn told MTV news that a lot of students dropped his class when they realized how early it was: “It’s a Monday, early morning class and there’s a lot of reading and papers, so a lot of people dropped the class.” [via Contact Music]

The University of Pennsylvania was hoping that Penn’s guest lecturing gig would bring more attention to the Asian American studies department, and it surely did, but it seems it didn’t take long for students to realize that a famous teacher doesn’t necessarily make a class easier. I tried to take “Blacks in Films” when I was in college and the requirements were too hard so I dropped it. Entertainment-related subject matter doesn’t make a class any less demanding.

SFGate has an article about pop culture university classes, and they include `”The Simpsons: Sitcom as Political and Social Satire,” and “Droppin’ Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture” at UC Berkeley.

Kal Penn is currently starring in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, which is out in the US on 4/25/08. Here’s the trailer. Warning NSFW language and adult subject matter.

Though she’s used to spending much more time at the Ivy than at the Ivy League, Paris Hilton actually spent a little time at Harvard University yesterday. Yes THAT Harvard, not some bar or club that has a tricky name. And to further confuse your view of the fundamentals of world order, Paris was given an award. I’m pretty sure it’s the first one she’s ever gotten - you know she wasn’t event the kid that got the lame “Honorable Mention” award at the third grade science fair. Paris was awarded the Harvard Lampoon Humor Magazine’s Woman of the Year award. And she actually looked pretty cute… at least for Paris Hilton. She had a wry smile on her face that made me think she almost understood the joke. Almost. Because then she spoke.

Harvard University loves Paris Hilton. “Harvard is hot!” the 26-year old heiress proclaimed Wednesday as she posed for pictures holding a giant, oversized trophy on the steps of the Lampoon Castle in Cambridge Massachusetts.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine standing here, standing on the steps of the Harvard Lampoon,” Hilton said. “It’s really exciting and I’ve had such a great time.”

The Lampoon award is a spoof of the annual honors given by Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatericals. Paris currently stars in the upcoming film The Hottie and the Nottie, which hits theaters on Friday. Hilton, who arrived an hour late for the festivities, told the crowd of about 100 people that her Simple Life Star, Nicole Richie, was also with her, then added: “Just kidding!”

[From OK! Magazine]

It’s too bad Paris made such lame jokes. This would have been the perfect opportunity for her to spend a few hundred bucks and hire someone to ghostwrite something funny for her, and actually pleasantly surprise everyone. She was gracious and seemed to enjoy herself. I’m guessing Paris capped off the closest thing she’s ever had to a college experience by playing some ultimate Frisbee on the quad and sleeping with a guy she later regretted.

Picture Note by JayBird: Images thanks to Splash.

I have publicly admitted that I really prefer to write about celebrities being bad to being good. I try to cover all the stories equally, but the bad stories get sooooo many more comments. So, in an attempt to point out the positive, I’m going to start posting a “Good Celebrity” article a day. Unless I get yelled at a lot for doing it, in which case I’m going to slink away and go back to posting 18 Lohan articles alone. So be nice. Our first celebrity is…. hold your breath… Shakira!

Shakira has been secretly (and by secretly, I mean not bringing X 17 along) taking classes at UCLA this summer. While the rest of us have been sweltering at our offices – or if we’re lucky, sweltering at the beach – Shakira has been studying the history of Western civilization. Just because.

“Shakira has been using her free time to study at UCLA. For the past month, the Colombian pop star has been attending a class at the University of California, Los Angeles, titled “Introduction to Western Civilization: Ancient Civilizations from Prehistory to Circa 843.”

Shakira’s manager Fifi Kurzman told the Associated Press the 30-year-old singer started attending classes August 6 following the conclusion of her latest tour. Classes ended September 13, although instructor Robert Cleve said Shakira didn’t attend the last few sessions. He said he hadn’t known she was a celebrity and was astonished to find out her identity.

“‘She told me she was visiting from Colombia and that she was just doing this for her own enlightenment and enjoyment,’ Cleve said. ‘She looked just like an ordinary student. She wasn’t flamboyant…she didn’t act like a big celebrity or anything.’

“Cleve said Shakira, who sat in the third row in the lecture hall, would often discuss material with him after class. ‘I was really impressed with how intelligent she was,’ he said. Kurzman said Shakira has for years studied on her own, also taking tutorials on the history and languages of the countries she visits.”

[From Voice of America]

Um, I love Shakira now. That is so cool. I only took Western civilization because it was required and all I remember about it was that the professor looked like a pedophile. Yes you can look like a pedophile… and if I wouldn’t get sued, I’d put his picture up so you all could understand. Unfortunately I mentioned that to a few classmates who all agreed, and I found out years later that students still call him that. That’s why you shouldn’t call people names, kids. Anyhoo, let’s give Shakira some points for doing something good. In the wake of all the other pop-tarts’ drinking, boozing, sleezing, and DUI-ing, Shakira is taking college classes just for fun. While I’m sure Paris got quite an interesting education in jail, I doubt she could tell you all about Gilgamesh. She’d probably tell you that it was some new kind of undergarment.

MTV’s college channel, mtvU, has a popular realtiy series called “Stand In” that has celebrities and musicians making surprise visits as college guest lecturers. Featured celebrities include Marilyn Manson, Madonna, Cameron Diaz, Snoop Dogg and Bill Gates:

“Stand In” strives to match celebrities with subjects they’re able to teach, and has actually turned away requests from celebrities. It’s widely popular on mtvU, and is offered on demand on the channel Uber. You can also watch episodes online. It will premiere on MTV proper on 3/5.

You know that if that happened in your school it would be on one of the days that you slept in with a hangover.