As allegations of rape continue to surface against Bill Cosby, High Point University has joined the growing list of businesses and colleges that have either ended or suspended ties with the comedian.
Bill Cosby is no longer listed on the school’s National Board of Advisors. The 77-year-old joined the board in July, and gave its commencement address in 2007.
Pam Haynes, a spokeswoman for High Point, told an AP reporter the decision is temporary.
“We are removing his name from our board of advisors until all information on this matter is available,” Haynes said.
Cosby has recently been accused of sexually assaulting at least 16 women over the course of decades, many of whom said they were drugged prior to being assaulted, according to the Washington Post.
The first assault is alleged to have occurred in 1965, and allegations have occasionally come up against the comedian throughout the years, but had largely been ignored or dismissed by the public until recently.
Attention on Cosby gained steam in October after a video was posted of fellow comedian Hannibal Buress arguing Cosby’s long-standing role as “America’s Dad” and a critic of modern black culture was hypocritical, due to his history of rape accusations.
“It’s even worse because Bill Cosby has the f— smuggest old black man public persona that I hate,” Buress said. “He gets on TV, ‘Pull your pants up black people, I was on TV in the ‘80s. I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom.’ Yeah, but you rape women, Bill Cosby, so turn the crazy down a couple notches.”
Since then, multiple women have come forward to retell their allegations against Cosby, and new allegations have surfaced. Cosby has refused to refute the allegations and tried to pressure an AP reporter to not ask him about the allegations.
In addition to High Point, the Berklee College of Music has cut ties with Cosby and removed his name from a scholarship, saying it did not want to foster the perception that its campus was unsafe, according to a report by Inside Higher Ed.
A video of Cosby on the homepage of Lincoln University of Pennsylvania has been removed recently. Cosby had been leading a capital campaign at the school, but representatives at the school said the school’s agreement with him finished in the summer.
Other schools have stuck by Cosby, who has been a notable benefactor to a number of schools — particularly historically black colleges and universities.
Spelman College, a historically black women’s college, received a $20 million donation from Cosby in 1988 and has a building named after him. The school has not commented on the status of its affiliation with him.
Temple University, where Cosby played football and since 1982 has served as a trustee, is supporting Cosby.
Netflix postponed plans to release a new standup special by Cosby. The special was recorded on Cosby’s 77th birthday and was scheduled to release on Nov. 28.
NBC, which had aired The Cosby Show from 1884-1992, dropped a new series it had been developing with him.
TV Land, which had been airing reruns of The Cosby Show, has pulled all repeats of the show.
state@dailytarheel.com
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