Lehigh University faculty recently voted to revoke President Donald Trump's honorary degree. The university's board of trustees, however, announced that "no action would be taken" on the issue.
In February, Lehigh faculty unveiled a motion to have the Board of Trustees rescind Trump's honorary degree due to "a long history of numerous documented statements that are antithetical to [the University's] core values," such as his remarks concerning the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. in August 2017.
According to CNN, more than 80 percent of responding faculty members voted in favor of the motion. Michael Raposa, a professor of religion studies at Lehigh, told CNN that he believed the results "clearly articulated voice of the faculty."
Trump, a 1968 Wharton graduate, received his honorary degree in 1988 after delivering a commencement speech for the graduating class, according to the Washington Post.
On March 2, the Board of Trustees announced they would not withdraw the president's honorary degree.
"The members of the Board are committed to doing what is in the best interests of the University as a whole, including most especially demonstrating openness to and respect for the broad views and perspectives of our many University constituencies," read a statement issued by the board. "We reaffirm our core mission of educating students from around the globe to be future leaders of society."
This is not the first time that the Lehigh community has advocated for rescinding Trump's honorary degree.
2017 Lehigh graduate Kelly McCoy began circulating a petition in August 2017 calling for its revocation. The petition garnered more than 30,000 signatures, according to reporting from The Brown and White. The Board of Trustees decided to take "no action."
In 2015, however, the board did decide to revoke the honorary degree of comedian Bill Cosby.
More recently, Penn's Board of Trustees also announced its decision to rescind Cosby's honorary degree, along with that of Steve Wynn, both of whom face multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.
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