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Bill Cosby Loses Another Honorary Degree Over Rape Allegations

By Chelsea Hoffman
Published on: 09:18 PST, Dec 8, 2015

Bill Cosby is losing another honorary degree in light of the mountain of allegations against him by various women who say he sexually assaulted and/or drugged them. NJ.Com reports that Swarthmore College is the latest educational establishment to revoke degrees that have been granted to the funnyman over the course of his career. Meanwhile, the beloved actor has remained reclusive, while trying to fight at least one of his accusers in court.

The loss of this latest degree comes from the revelation — in July — that he had testified under oath, admitting to drugging women and having sexual contact with them numerous times. Swarthmore College President Valerie Smith issued a statement outlining the reason for the recent decision.

“Mr. Cosby has testified in a deposition under oath, which was made public in July, that he routinely and premeditatively drugged women before having sex with them. We find that his admitted personal behaviors are wholly inconsistent with our institutional values — and ones we would never want our own students or graduates to emulate.”

The Swarthmore College President also added that the school’s decision to revoke Bill Cosby’s honorary degree would be effective immediately. So far, Drexel University and Madison University have revoked degrees that were awarded to the 78-year-old Philly native.

Bill Cosby hasn’t commented on the loss of his honorary degrees, but that’s probably because he’s busy battling former supermodel Janice Dickinson over her allegations that he drugged and took advantage of her many years ago. The Latin Post reports that Cosby is trying to get a court to toss out Dickinson’s defamation suit against him. The suit was initiated by Dickinson after Cosby and his former attorney labeled her a “liar” publicly in response to her claims about what happened between her and Cosby. A judge recently ruled that both Cosby and his former attorney must submit depositions. This order has been stayed while Cosby and his attorney struggle to find a way out of this.

So far, more than 50 women have come forward with allegations that Bill Cosby drugged and/or raped them. Some of the allegations stem from nearly five decades ago, while others are as recently as the 1980s. Most of the women’s stories have been met with scrutiny on social media, which sparked the debate on whether or not victims of rape are ever treated seriously when it comes to stepping forward with their stories. Currently, the Bill Cosby rape scandal remains a heated point of discussion on Twitter and Facebook.


Do you think it’s fair that Cosby keeps losing his honorary degrees awarded to him by various colleges? Or do you think that he is being unfairly treated since he’s never been legally convicted of rape?

[Photo: Public Domain via Wikipedia]

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