A bad reputation leads to pulling honorary doctorates from Bill Cosby.
Over the years, Bill Cosby, a strong advocate of education, has received over 100 honorary degrees from colleges in exchange for appearing to make graduation speeches. These honorary degrees also serve the purpose of awarding the usually highly-respected individual who is receiving them. Recently, due to some allegations against Cosby, his 100-plus degrees are being questioned, and some are even being revoked.
Going back as far as the year 2000, there have been at least 54 sexual assault allegations against Cosby. Ranging from rape to drug-facilitated sexual assault, these accusations supposedly go back to the 1960’s.
As of right now, Cosby has denied any wrongdoing. He has not been officially charged with any crimes. However, court records from a 2005 civil lawsuit show some shocking information.
In these records, Cosby admits to casual sex involving the use of quaaludes, a very strong narcotic that was popular in the 1960’s.
The whole situation has led to criminal investigations, numerous lawsuits, responses by accusers as well as more coming forward and has brought a lot of controversy and unanswered questions to the table.
Perhaps one of the biggest and most publicized issues surrounding the whole debate at this time is the actions being taken against the man we once knew as the lovable character, Mr. Huxtable. Multiple organizations have already cut ties with Cosby, surely with more to come. If you are a big late-night television fan, you have probably noticed that The Cosby Show is no longer on the air. Cosby’s talent agency has dropped him, and as of recently, his honorary degrees have begun to be rescinded.
There are a lot of questions and debate around the issue of whether Cosby should lose the honorary degrees that he has amassed over the last nearly half-century. Fordham, Marquette and Brown Universities have already made the decision to pull his degrees, while schools such as Yale have policies that prohibit the revocation of such awards.
In an interview with The New York Times, Kimberly Alexander, vice president for institutional advancement at Talladega College, stated, “We give out honorary degrees based on what we know at the time, and at the time he was everybody’s favorite dad.”
Colleges such as Ohio State are still uncertain about what to do.
I believe that although due to the nature of the crime, and since there have been no formal charges filed against Cosby, it would be inappropriate for his degrees to be pulled at this time.
If the day does come where Cosby has to answer to a judge for these accusations, then I believe it will be time for him to be stripped of his awards, along with proper legal actions. Until that day, however, I think it would be unfair to decide judgment against someone without the necessary facts in place.
Bonnie,
Thank you for your concern. I am sure you can educate me since you probably know the whole story of what has happened first hand and you are not just going by what the media stirs up. Commenting on the fact I am naive and that “I know someone who has been raped but just don’t know her name.” I actually look that victim in the mirror every day. The problem I have with the “rape culture” today is the people who make false rape accusations.
So perhaps it is you that is naive for jumping to the conclusion that I do not know what I am talking about.
It is simply an opinion that he should not lose his degrees because someone has called rape 40 years later until evidence has shown he is guilty. There are two sides to every story.
While I’m not sure how you can hold onto the notion that Cosby is innocent of the crimes of which he’s been accused, that point is not the basis of the rescission of these honorary degrees. Bill Cosby’s own admission of obtaining drugs under false pretenses (from a gynecologist, no less) with the intent of illegally distributing them to women he wanted to “have sex with” does not align with the core values and principles of these institutions. It is imperative that these universities separate themselves from his actions; that they stand up and make the very clear statement that they do not condone what he has done.
Logic tells us that Bill Cosby is a serial sexual predator, but even if you refuse to accept that, it’s impossible to argue that his own sworn testimony revealed that he is a person of low moral character. These centers of higher learning are undoubtedly doing the right thing, although it seems that you, Ms. Prior, have completely missed the lesson.
I am appalled that your logic is so flawed. You really need to educate yourself on an issue such as this before embarrassing yourself with the “innocent until proven guilty” cliche.
The USNavy, NBC, Temple, Spelman, Lehigh, etc “get it” and, as a young woman, you are waaaay too naive if you think it has to get to a court of law before someone is shunned by decent society.
You know someone who has been raped, you just don’t know her name because of the rape culture that you evidently don’t or can’t recognize.