BREAKING: Penn will remove 'Wynn Commons' name and rescind honorary degrees from Steve Wynn and Bill CosbyBy Rebecca Tan and Sarah Fortinsky 2 hours ago
http://www.thedp.com/article/2018/02/wynn-cosby-steve-gutmann-david-cohen-upenn-ivy-philadelphia-honorary-degree-sexual-assault-misconduct
The "Wynn Commons" sign on Thursday reflected the University's decision to remove the 1963 graduate's name.
Credit: Sam HollandNearly a week after reports emerged of a decades-long pattern of alleged sexual misconduct by former Penn Trustee Steve Wynn, the University announced on Thursday that it will revoke Wynn’s honorary degree, which was granted in 2006, remove the name “Wynn Commons†from the common area outside Houston Hall, and remove Wynn’s name from the scholarship fund that he established by donation.
“The nature, severity, and extent of these allegations, and the patterns of abusive behavior they describe, involve acts and conduct that are inimical to the core values of our University,†Chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees
David Cohen and President Amy Gutmann wrote in an email to the Penn community.
Early on Feb. 1, the name "Wynn" in the large seal outside Houston Hall was covered with a metal rectangle. This comes one day after the University of Iowa also announced that they would be removing Wynn's name from their Institute for Vision Research. If the change is approved by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, it will mark the first time in UI's history that a donor's name will be stripped from a building or institute.
On top of removing Wynn's name and revoking his honorary degree, Penn has also announced that it would be revoking the honorary degree granted to Bill Cosby, who has been accused by over 50 women of sexual misconduct. This is a departure from the position
taken on by the University two years ago, when these allegations first emerged.
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Just two days prior to Cohen and Gutmann’s email announcement, the signage for “Wynn Commons,†which was named after the 1963 College graduate following
a $7.5 million donation in 1995, was defaced. Streaks of black paint were seen across Wynn’s name and some reported to have seen police on the scene. The Division of Public Safety said then that it had yet to find the culprit behind the defacement.
[...]
Penn’s announcement comes less than a week after the Wall Street Journal published an investigative report in which
dozens of people described a pattern of sexual misconduct by Wynn. Among other allegations, Wynn is said to have forced various employees to perform sex acts on him.
Read the full text of the email announcement from Gutmann and Cohen below.
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