Members of UConn’s board of trustees have unanimously voted to revoke the honorary degree the university gave Bill Cosby in 1996.
This is a first for UConn, which has never before revoked an honorary degree.
The school presented 78-year-old Cosby with an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts the school in 1996.
The vote comes soon after Cosby was ordered to stand trial in a sexual assault case that hinges on a police report taken years ago in which a woman reported the comedian gave her three blue pills that put her in a stupor and she was unable to stop his advances.
In his own 2005 statement to police, Cosby claimed it was consensual sexual activity and the woman never said "no."
“Since the conferring of this honorary degree, Mr. Cosby had admitted, in sworn depositions that he engaged in conduct that in incongruent with the values of the University of Connecticut. The University respects the principles of due process and Mr. Cosby’s right to a fair trial on the criminal charges against him,” Provost Mun T. Choi wrote in a memo to the board. “But the conduct which he admitted in his sworn testimony provides compelling reasons for the University of Connecticut to consider the revocation of his honorary degree.”
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UConn's undergraduate student government unanimously passed a resolution in March in which they asked to the administration of revoke his degree.
“If we’re going to be working toward making sure survivors know we’re supporting them, we need to make sure that we’re showing the public that we’re not going to support someone like Bill Cosby with an honorary degree,” Student Government President Daniel Byrd said.
Cosby is also fighting defamation lawsuits across the country for allegedly branding his accusers liars and he’s trying to get his homeowner insurance to pay his legal bills.
Cosby has repeatedly denied all allegations of sexual misconduct.
Cosby also has honorary degrees from Yale and Wesleyan.
