Today, when we hear the name “Bill Cosby,” we no longer associate him as a loving, sweater-wearing father, and head of the legendary Huxtable residence. Bill Cosby has been publicly accused of sexual assaulting over forty women since 1965. The 78-year-old comedian's reputation dwindles as entities associated with him continue to renounce his name.
In 1988, Cosby gave 20 million dollars to Spelman College. A program was implemented in his and his wife Camille's name to give the college some good publicity. Since July 2015, officials at Spelman College tells the Associated Press , it has suspended its endowed professorship with Cosby.
As of late 2013, Cosby was listed as a board member of the V foundation, a cancer charity, but he does not appear to be a board member anymore.
Cosby attended Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for his undergraduate education, and has served on the Temple University Board of Trustees for 32 years. Cosby resigned in December last year, severing ties with an entity of great sentimental value.
The New York University just removed Cosby’s name from their workshop for high school students in September.
Most importantly, Cosby has also been on Hampton University’s Board of Trustees, and in 2011, even gave the commencement speech to a class of graduating Hampton University students.
Although Cosby's accomplishments in television cannot be erased from history, many have found it necessary to part ways with Cosby. For universities, sexual assaults, like rape, continue to be a sensitive yet prevalent issue on and off campuses. It is absolutely necessary to speak out against not only sexual assault, but the culture and perpetrators associated with it.
Bill Cosby's status on Hampton University’s Board of trustees is still questionable to Hampton University students, parents, and the public. Universities are responsible to students who pay thousands of dollars to keep them safe, and distance themselves from anything that symbolizes otherwise. If Bill Cosby is no longer on Hampton’s Board of Trustees, why are students and the public unaware? More so, if he remains, does this mean Hampton University stands for such behavior?
