In May 2013 Rebennack received an honorary doctorate of Fine Arts from Tulane University. On the university website, a comment was added about that 2013 ceremony: ""The passing of Dr. John reminded me of one of my favorite Tulane moments. It was Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and the Dalai Lama on the same stage for one of our commencements. The Dalai Lama danced to their music. What a treat!""