Spelman Severs Ties With Bill Cosby
CORRECTION: Spelman has completely cut ties with Cosby endowed professorship program. The previous version of this article reported that the relationship had been "suspended." It was first suspended in 2014. A more recent statement from the college is as follows:
"The William and Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Endowed Professorship at Spelman College has been discontinued," and "related funds" have been returned to the Clara Elizabeth Jackson Carter Foundation.
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Another university is disassociating itself from the Bill Cosby school of thought.
After a years old deposition was exposed, recently, in which Cosby reportedly admits to feigning interest in and giving drugs to women in order to have extramarital sex, Spelman College has announced the suspension of a program boasting his and his wife Camille's name.
The endowed professorship is meant "to bring positive attention and scholars to the campus," the HBCU explained in a statement, adding that the current court of public opinion "prevents us from continuing to meet these objectives fully."
The program will be dicontinued until the those goals are met again, reports CBS News.
According to the Atlanta Journal Constituion, the Cosbys donated some $20 million to the college in the '80s, the largest personal gift to an HBCU at the time.
Two of their daughters have attended.
Cosby has never admitted to, been convicted of, or been charged with the sexual assault of the dozens of women who have come forward with allegations. He insists the affairs he had were consensual and Camille stands by that.
However, he has been publicly shamed, his behavior referred to as predatory.
Last year, the Berklee College of Music removed his name from a scholarship, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst announced he would no longer be honorary co-chair of a $300 million fundraising campaign.
He resigned from the board of Temple University in December.
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(Photo By: Andrew Savulich/NY Daily News via Getty Images)
