The American University of Rome last week awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters Honoris Causa Degree to Roger Waters, for his contribution to music and for his social activism around the globe.

Accompanied by his wife Laurie Durning and by war veteran and friend Harry Shindler, Waters received his degree before a group of AUR students, veterans, faculty, and staff at the Istituto Italiano Studi Germanici in Rome following attendance of the Anzio commemoration ceremonies for the 70th anniversary of the Allied landings where his father, Eric Fletcher Waters of the 8th Royal Fusiliers, died as he fought to repel a German counter-attack in a battle that changed the course of the Second World War.

After receiving the Honoris Causa Degree, Waters gave a short and concise talk directed to AUR students in which he recited a critical poem written in 2004 in light of the re-election of former US President George W. Bush. He then encouraged AUR students to "make the world a much better place than it is now" and further highlighted his hopes that the current education system would focus on getting students interested in discovering and delivering the real truth about the issues of the world.

Waters then answered questions from AUR students regarding inspiration for his music, his thoughts on education, and his passion for veteran causes and human rights. Particularly, he shared with the audience that he finds the work he does with veterans to be the most rewarding of all. In a moving moment, he said "countries of the world really need to think more critically about the psychological situations they are putting their children in when they ask them to go to war". The AUR Veterans Club concluded the ceremony by presenting Roger Waters with a Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of his father's ultimate sacrifice and for Waters' continued outreach to the veteran community. Photo: Andrea Cavallini and Michelle Aschbacher.

In other Waters news, our friend Jochen Klug has let us know that the scheduled release of the SACD and vinyl of the remastered Amused To Death has been put back from the most recently declared date of April 22nd, to September 23rd. Obviously, any changes to this we will let you know...