Bill Cosby Sponsored Spelman College Program Suspended as School Separates From Star; Wife Speaks Out for First Time
Spelman College has suspended its prestigious program worth $20 million in the wake of the recent allegations made against Bill Cosby, while his wife has spoken out for the first time to defend her husband.
"The William and Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Endowed Professorship was established to bring positive attention and accomplished visiting scholars to Spelman College in order to enhance our intellectual, cultural and creative life," Spelman College said in an official statement. "However, the current context prevents us from continuing to meet these objectives fully. Consequently, we will suspend the program until such time that the original goals can again be met."
Cosby and his wife gifted the school $20 million in the late 1980s, establishing the prestigious professorship. The family also gave an academic center, named for Camille. This is not the first school that Cosby has been affiliated with; earlier this month, he stepped down from the board of trustees at Temple University. He was also stripped of the honorary title of chief petty officer given to him in 2011.
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"The Navy is taking this action because allegations against Mr. Cosby are very serious and are in conflict with the Navy's core values of honor, courage and commitment," the Navy said in a statement.
Camille Cosby, who has been married to the icon since 1964, finally broke her silence about the allegations made against her husband.
"A different man has been portrayed in the media over the last two months. It is the portrait of a man that I do not know," Camille said in the statement released to the public on Wednesday. "It is also a portrait painted by individuals whom many in the media have given a pass. There appears to be no vetting of my husband's accusers before stories are published or aired. An accusation is published, and immediately goes viral."
"None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking a victim," Camille added. "But the question should be asked – who is the victim?
Cosby himself issued a statement through his lawyer, Martin Singer, before his wife did but only after several women have come forward to allege that the TV star drugged and/or sexually assaulted them.
"The new, never-before-heard claims from women who have come forward in the past two weeks with unsubstantiated, fantastical stories about things they say occurred 30, 40, or even 50 years ago have escalated far past the point of absurdity. These brand new claims about alleged decades-old events are becoming increasingly ridiculous, and it is completely illogical that so many people have said nothing, done nothing, and made no reports to law enforcement or asserted civil claims if they thought they had been assaulted over a span of so many years," Singer said.
