“In a special session Thursday of the Executive Committee of the Lehigh University Board of Trustees, the members voted to rescind and revoke the honorary degree granted to Donald J. Trump in 1988. The full Board of Trustees affirmed the decision today.”
A Lehigh spokeswoman said the university has no plans to elaborate on the statement.
Lehigh’s class of 1988 invited Trump to speak at its commencement, according to the student newspaper the Brown and White, and the university bestowed on him an honorary doctor of laws degree when he addressed the graduates. Trump’s late brother Frederick Trump Jr. was a graduate of Lehigh.
Friday’s action was the second time in recent years Lehigh has rescinded an honorary degree. In 2015 it rescinded a degree that it had awarded comedian Bill Cosby years before he fell into disgrace amid accusations of sexual assault.
In October 2017, after President Trump took office, Lehigh’s trustees rejected a push by Trump’s critics to have the university withdraw the honorary degree it had awarded decades earlier.
In a statement that month, the university said: “In considering a petition regarding the honorary degree given 29 years ago to President Donald Trump, the Board of Trustees engaged in lengthy, full and robust discussions. The Board has concluded that no action will be taken.”
The White House had no immediate reply to a request for comment.
