Arthur C. Danto, Nation art critic and the Johnsonian Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Columbia University, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the university at its 2004 commencement. Columbia cited Danto for having “allowed us to see art through the lens of your large and generous philosophical mind,” as well as for “your deep and liberal humanity” and “your remarkable joining of art and philosophy in a relationship of mutual enrichment.”

David Cole, Nation legal affairs correspondent, has received a Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award for Enemy Aliens: Double Standards and Constitutional Freedoms in the War on Terrorism.