Universities split ways with Cosby amid allegations

Other universities around the country have cut ties with Temple trustee and alumnus Bill Cosby after a recent surge in allegations of rape and other sexual misconduct dating back to the 1960s.

At administrators’ request, Cosby on Wednesday stepped down as honorary co-chairman of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s $300 million fundraising campaign. According to the Washington Post, Cosby had through a benefit performance and personal donations helped raise almost $2 million for the school where he received master’s and doctoral degrees in education.

Cosby, who has never been charged with a crime for any of the allegations, also saw High Point University in North Carolina temporarily remove him from an advisory board. Freed-Hardeman University in Tennessee canceled a scheduled appearance at a Dec. 5 fundraiser.

Joe Wiley, president of FHU, told the New York Daily News that “names we have seen in the media represent real people who will be affected long after FHU’s dinner has passed.”

The Berklee School of Music in Boston removed Cosby’s name from a scholarship it awards.

A Temple spokesman told The Temple News last week that Cosby remains a trustee, but declined to comment further on the allegations or the comedian’s future on the Board.

Cosby was re-elected unanimously at the Board’s October meeting.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@temple.edu or on Twitter @JBrandt_TU.