“Academic degrees are a lifetime honor. Once you have one, no one can take that away from you.” That’s what my father and several academic advisors told me as I contemplated seeking my undergraduate university degree several years ago.
Yet some of America’s best colleges and universities are putting political correctness ahead of traditional academic policy by stripping the once-popular TV comedian Bill Cosby of his honorary degrees, in response to allegations that Cosby sexually assaulted numerous women.
While demeriting Cosby may seem like good form, it’s wrong and sets a dangerous precedent for two reasons.
First, keeping college degrees doesn’t depend on your legal standing. Except in cases of academic dishonesty, in which a school can …show more content…
They are meant to reward those that have completed an educational program, or in the case of an honorary degree, have the equivalent life experience, neither of which can ever be taken away from a person.
Second, lost in all the media melee is the important fact that Cosby hasn’t been convicted yet. True, a lot of women have accused him and I think there’s all the reason in the world to believe he’s guilty as sin.
Still, innocent until proven guilty is the American way. Anyone can accuse someone – it’s up to the court of law, and not the court of public opinion, to determine guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Stripping Cosby of his degrees will set the precedent that retaining academic merits are at the whims of public opinion. As The New York Times noted, disgraced Watergate President Richard Nixon and Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe are among those still possessing honorary degrees from American universities, since we were able to divorce the degree from the person’s conduct. But now all that’s about to change.
Imagine scientists being stripped of their degrees for colluding with big business to cover up environmental issues. Executives demerited for white-collar crime. Doctors stripped of their academic honors for
Yet some of America’s best colleges and universities are putting political correctness ahead of traditional academic policy by stripping the once-popular TV comedian Bill Cosby of his honorary degrees, in response to allegations that Cosby sexually assaulted numerous women.
While demeriting Cosby may seem like good form, it’s wrong and sets a dangerous precedent for two reasons.
First, keeping college degrees doesn’t depend on your legal standing. Except in cases of academic dishonesty, in which a school can …show more content…
They are meant to reward those that have completed an educational program, or in the case of an honorary degree, have the equivalent life experience, neither of which can ever be taken away from a person.
Second, lost in all the media melee is the important fact that Cosby hasn’t been convicted yet. True, a lot of women have accused him and I think there’s all the reason in the world to believe he’s guilty as sin.
Still, innocent until proven guilty is the American way. Anyone can accuse someone – it’s up to the court of law, and not the court of public opinion, to determine guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Stripping Cosby of his degrees will set the precedent that retaining academic merits are at the whims of public opinion. As The New York Times noted, disgraced Watergate President Richard Nixon and Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe are among those still possessing honorary degrees from American universities, since we were able to divorce the degree from the person’s conduct. But now all that’s about to change.
Imagine scientists being stripped of their degrees for colluding with big business to cover up environmental issues. Executives demerited for white-collar crime. Doctors stripped of their academic honors for