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Revoking honorary degrees can raise practical issues, legal challenges
Author(s) -
Porter Michael
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the successful registrar
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1943-7560
pISSN - 1534-7710
DOI - 10.1002/tsr.30553
Subject(s) - revocation , conviction , law , toll , political science , nothing , sexual assault , criminology , sociology , engineering , medicine , poison control , philosophy , environmental health , epistemology , injury prevention , electrical engineering , immunology , overhead (engineering)
After Bill Cosby was convicted for sexual assault, many of the 60 or more institutions that had conferred honorary degrees on Cosby revoked them. Some had already done so back when the allegations arose. From a public‐and‐community‐relations standpoint, revocation in this type of circumstance is an obvious and necessary act — institutions show that their commitment to eliminating sexual misconduct overrides an honorific provided to someone who never took a class, let alone graduated. And revocation of a degree to someone like Cosby comes with low risk: the likelihood that Cosby will bring a claim, especially after a conviction (not just allegations), is probably close to nothing.