AMHERST, N.Y. (1010 WINS) -- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg accepted an honorary degree from the University at Buffalo Monday morning, marking her first public appearance since the Supreme Court announced on Friday that she underwent three weeks of outpatient radiation therapy in NYC. Looking upbeat in a jovial mood, Ginsburg, 86, received several standing ovations during an hour-long appearance, when she also sat for a question-and-answer session. She referred to her health only briefly, saying she wanted to honor a commitment to appear she made last year.
"Justice Ginsburg, full of jokes at times, later discussed her joys in accepting the degree and emphasized that we 'have not reached nirvana' but the progress she has seen in her lifetime makes her optimistic about the future," the University of Buffalo student newspaper The Spectrum tweeted.
According to The Spectrum, Ginsburg discussed "tales from the civil rights movement to women's rights movement, intertwining history throughout her Q&A with Dean Abramovsky."
On a lighter note, Ginsburg "left the stage roughly around noon. She shouted out Notorious B.I.G. Aside from their career differences, both, she noted, are from Brooklyn," the independent student newspaper tweeted.
