UMass Cuts Ties With Bill Cosby

The University of Massachusetts-Amherst has cut ties with alumnus Bill Cosby amid allegations by women accusing him of sexual assault

The University of Massachusetts-Amherst has cut ties with alumnus Bill Cosby amid allegations by women accusing him of sexual assault. Other schools have also chosen to distance themselves from the comedian.

A university spokesman told the Boston Globe on Wednesday university officials had asked Cosby to step down as an honorary co-chairman of their $300 million fundraising campaign and Cosby agreed.

Cosby received a master's degree and a doctorate in education from the university. He and his wife donated several hundred thousand dollars to the university.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley sent a letter to the university urging it to cut ties with Cosby.

Coakley says while Cosby hadn't been criminally charged his association sends the wrong message when the state is focused on the prevention of campus sexual assault.

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Berklee College of Music in Boston said Wednesday that Cosby is no longer affiliated with an online scholarship named in his honor. Cosby, who plays the drums and writes music, was a recipient of an honorary degree from the school in 2004.

Other institutions have severed ties with the comedian. High Point University in North Carolina has temporarily removed his name from its advisory board and Freed-Hardeman University in Tennessee dropped Cosby from its annual benefit dinner in December, NBC News reported.

Meanwhile, excerpts released Wednesday from a 2005 deposition reveal that Cosby testified under oath in 2005 that he gave the National Enquirer an exclusive interview about one woman’s sexual-assault accusations in order to prevent the tabloid from reporting a second accuser's story, The Associated Press reported.

Cosby's lawyer has called the sexual assault allegations "unsubstantiated" and "discredited."

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