Mark Makela/Getty Images(NEW HAVEN, Conn.) — Yale University has revoked an honorary degree awarded to Bill Cosby more than a decade ago, joining more than two dozen other institutions that previously honored the comedian known as “America’s Dad.”
Yale said its board of trustees voted to rescind Cosby’s 2003 honorary degree after the disgraced star’s April 26 criminal conviction, according to a statement released Tuesday.
The Ivy League university said the decision was a reflection of its commitment to “the elimination of sexual misconduct.”
“The decision is based on a court record providing clear and convincing evidence of conduct that violates fundamental standards of decency shared by all members of the Yale community, conduct that was unknown to the board at the time the degree was awarded,” Yale said in a statement. “The board took this decision following Mr. Cosby’s criminal conviction after he was afforded due process.
“Yale is committed to both the elimination of sexual misconduct and the adherence to due process. We reaffirm that commitment with our action today.”
At least two dozen colleges, including Temple, Johns Hopkins University and Carnegie Mellon University, have rescinded honorary degrees awarded to Cosby, 80, amid the ongoing sexual assault scandal.
Cosby was convicted on three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault last Thursday following claims that he drugged and molested a Temple University employee at his Philadelphia home in 2004.
The conviction came approximately 11 months after a mistrial was declared in Cosby’s first trial, after a jury failed to reach a verdict.
Harrison Snyder, one of seven men on the jury, told ABC News last week that Cosby’s own words are what led the jury to find him guilty.
“It was his deposition, really,” Snyder, 22, said. “Mr. Cosby admitted to giving these Quaaludes to women, young women, in order to have sex with them.
“If you were there, you would say the same thing. You would say that he’s guilty.”
ABC News Catherine Thorbecke contributed to this report.
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