Claflin University has no plans to rescind Bill Cosby's honorary degree

Claflin University has no plans to rescind an honorary degree it gave to Bill Cosby, whom last week was found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, the university said Wednesday.

"While the University is concerned about the circumstances surrounding Mr. Cosby and his conviction, Claflin University has no (policy) to rescind honorary degrees at the present time," spokesman George Johnson said in a statement.

With no plans to rescind Cosby's honorary degree, which the historically black college awarded him in 1999, the Orangeburg school is breaking ranks with dozens of other universities that have revoked the disgraced former comedian's honorary degrees.

While some universities saw Cosby's 60 accusers as sufficient reason to revoke his honorary degree before his conviction, other universities did not do so until Cosby was convicted. The University of South Carolina's board of trustees is set to consider revoking Cosby's honorary degree at its June 8 meeting.

This story was originally published May 2, 2018 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Claflin University has no plans to rescind Bill Cosby's honorary degree."