Wilkes University rescinds Bill Cosby’s honorary degree

Cosby, who as of September 2015 has been accused of sexual assault by more than 50 women, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from NU in 1997, according to an article from that year in The Daily.

“It doesn’t make sense that Northwestern should support Bill Cosby in any way, including him having an honorary degree from the University”, Odasz said.

Yale said in a statement that it had never rescinded an honorary degree, without elaborating on its reasoning.

As the number of Bill Cosby’s accusers continues to mount, so do the retractions of his honorary degrees.

But dozens of women have come forward recently to accuse him of sexual assault. In the last two weeks alone, Fordham, Marquette, Brown, and the University of San Francisco all revoked their honors.

“It has become clear, by Mr. Cosby’s own admission in a 2006 legal deposition (Constand v. Cosby) that became public this summer, that he engaged in conduct that is contrary to the values of Wilkes University and the qualities for which he was honored”.

But Yale is among the schools that have taken no action, even in the face of an online petition to strike the award given in 2003. Cosby has not been charged with a crime.

Snow said that numerous women who participated sensed an opportunity to educate others about the need to talk forthrightly about sexual assault. The Times article notes that Cosby’s publicist estimated 100 honorary degrees while they count about 60. The disgraced star’s testimony will be sealed until December, at the very least.

In May, Cosby marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and spoke to students at Selma High School.

We may not have to wait for all 60, since a few institutions, like Boston University and Yale, are standing by their original decisions. A Cosby representative, Monique Pressley, declined to comment to The Associated Press about the NBC show.