WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) — George Washington University is the latest institution to rescind an honorary degree from defamed comedian Bill Cosby in the face of multiple sexual assault allegations and a recent felony charge.
Months after announcing plans to maintain the 79-year-old’s honorary degree, university President Steven Knapp confirmed the institution will revoke the honor, given in 1997, on grounds of the distress Cosby’s allegations have caused on campus.
Sexual assault, Knapp writes, is an “ongoing problem…that afflicts every college campus, including ours.” The president added news of Cosby’s alleged actions have opened old wounds for sexual assault survivors in the community. “That makes this case different, in my considered judgment, from other cases in which the assessment of a degree candidate might be altered by subsequent information or events,” Knapp wrote.
The decision comes soon after Cosby was arrested and charged with aggravated indecent assault, a felony, for a 2004 case involving former Temple University employee Andrea Constand. In addition to the charge, the former Cosby Show actor has been accused of sexual assault by over 50 women.
“This action by itself will not end the scourge of sexual assault on this or any other campus,” Knapp added in his letter’s closing statement.
Several educational institutions, including Oberlin College, Fordham University, Brown University, Boston University, Tufts University and Coucher College, have revoked honorary degrees given to Cosby. Temple University, the University of Connecticut and Wesleyan University have yet to make such moves.
Cosby’s attorneys have remained steadfast in their assertion of his innocence. “My client is not guilty,” Cosby’s legal representative, Monique Pressley, said during a press interview in late December. “And there will be no consideration on our part of any sort of arrangement.”
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