Student leaders at the University of Massachusetts at Boston have asked the institution’s trustees to rescind an honorary degree that was presented in 1986 to Robert G. Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, according to today’s Boston Globe. At the time, Mr. Mugabe was a respected leader of a newly independent nation that he had helped move to majority-black rule. Twenty-one years later, he is an 83-year-old autocrat clinging to power despite economic sanctions from Western countries over human-rights abuses, civil-liberties violations, and ruinous economic policies that have led to the near isolation of the impoverished country. The UMass-Boston students’ request follows similar moves at two other institutions — Michigan State University and the University of Edinburgh. The trustees will consider the matter in June. —Andrew Mytelka