Wesleyan University's president is moving to revoke Bill Cosby’s honorary degree after the comedian was found guilty on sexual assault charges on Thursday.
Cosby was convicted on three counts of aggravated assault related to an encounter with a former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, in his Cheltenham home in Pennsylvania. He was accused of drugging and molesting Constand in 2004. During the trial, five other women testified to also having been drugged and assaulted by Cosby.
In light of his conviction, Wesleyan University President Michael Roth announced he intends to ask the Board of Trustees to revoke the honorary degree Wesleyan awarded Cosby in 1987.
Roth will make his request when the Board of Trustees meets in May.
Yale University is also looking into whether to revoke an honorary degree awarded to Cosby by that institution.
"The board of trustees will be reviewing Yale’s longstanding precedent of not revoking honorary degrees. The conduct of which Mr. Cosby was convicted today is profoundly disturbing and deeply contrary to the mission of Yale and our expectations for behavior," a university spokesperson told NBC Connecticut.
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In June 2016, the University of Connecticut revoked an honorary degree awarded to Cosby in 1996. It was the first time the school had ever rescinded an honorary degree.
The court case has destroyed the legacy of the once influential comedian. He was originally charged in 2015, but the initial trial ended in a mistrial when the jury deadlocked.
Cosby now faces up to 10 years in prison on each count. A sentencing date has not been announced. His attorneys said they plan to appeal the verdict.
