Lehigh University is facing mounting pressure to revoke an honorary degree it gave to Donald Trump in 1988 when he was their commencement speaker.
The push started as early as the primaries by one professor emeritus Richard Weisman, but has gained momentum due to President Trump’s comments on the Charlottesville riots which left many unsettled.
Students and alumni of the Bethlehem, Pa. university pushed the issue on a change.org petition entitled, “Lehigh University: Rescind Donald Trump’s Honorary Degree” and the petition, along with nearly 30,000 signatures, has been delivered to the university’s president.
Lehigh’s current criteria for considering or accepting a commencement speaker’s nomination states, “This position is intended to recognize an individual(s) for their outstanding scholarship or contributions to Lehigh or the global community, and should reflect the values of Lehigh University.”
Signers of the petition claim that President Trump does not reflect the values of the university.
“[O]ur current values as a university stand against everything Donald Trump represents. In 2011, Lehigh faculty and students drafted the ‘Principles of our Equitable Community,’ a document that contains guidelines for making Lehigh a more diverse and welcoming atmosphere for its students. These principles are antithetical to the behaviors and statements of Donald Trump during his presidency and on the campaign trail. Allowing Donald Trump to retain his honorary degree represents a hollow and superficial ideological commitment from Lehigh to these principles,” the Change.org petition states in part.
According to Professor Weisman, Trump is “an embarrassment to himself, he’s an embarrassment to the country and I think he is an embarrassment to Lehigh University.”
What a difference nearly 30 years makes. Lehigh students in 1988 overwhelmingly supported the commencement address of the then-real-estate-mogul.
“Donald J. Trump, president of the Trump Organization, obviously pleased the crowd of about 7,000 in Stabler Arena and the seniors who chose him as speaker. However, the real estate magnate’s remarks were surprisingly liberal,” the Morning Call reported in 1988.
According to LehighValleyLive, “only Lehigh’s Board of Trustees, which next meets Oct. 25-27, can rescind the degree.”
More recent commencement speakers at Lehigh University include Dr. Elie Wiessel in 2010, and Bill Nye the Science Guy in 2013.
The university notably revoked Bill Cosby’s honorary degree in 2015 when unsealed court documents revealed the 78-year-old actor had admitted to extramarital relationships with several women, some of whom accused him of sexual assault.
