URI board of trustees renounces honorary degrees.. PHOTO CREDIT: Boston Globe
On Jan. 21, the University of Rhode Island announced that the honorary degrees that were granted to Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and Rudy Giuliani have been revoked by the Board of Trustees, as their actions no longer uphold URI values.
Giuliani’s honorary degree was awarded in 2003 because of his accredited leadership as Mayor of New York City in the aftermath of 9/11. Flynn, who graduated from the university in 1981, received his honorary degree in 2014.
Both figures have become polarizing and controversial, specifically due to their involvement with the Trump administration and various right-wing conspiracies. The University stated that this decision was not made through political bias.
In a press release, URI explained that Flynn’s honorary degree was revoked because he pleaded guilty to knowingly lying to the FBI, calling for a military coup in the United States shortly after one occured in Myanmar in February 2021 and calling for one state religion in the U.S., contrary to the First Amendment.
Giuliani’s degree was revoked, according to the release, because of his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and due to him losing his law license in New York and Washington D.C. following his unfounded claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
University officials declined to have any interviews but shared a few statements and references.
“The Faculty Senate receives faculty requests for a variety of things for the Senate to consider through the various standing and joint committees,” Audrey Cardany, the President of the Faculty Senate said.
According to the press release, the URI Faculty Senate Executive Committee forwarded this request to the Honorary Degree Committee, asking them to consider the reinvokement of the honorary degrees.
The discussion by the committee was forwarded to President Marc Parlange who then made the final recommendation to the Board of Trustees.
In the letter sent to the Board of Trustees Parlange said, “I agree with the Committee’s recommendation to revoke the degrees based on their findings that General Flynn and Mayor Giuliani no longer represent the highest level of our values and standards that were evident when we first bestowed the degree.”
The Board of Trustees reviewed this decision in their meeting on Jan. 21, where they ultimately decided to revoke the degrees. The meeting was live streamed and is accessible via the URI Board of Trustees Facebook page.
Chair Margo Cook revealed in the meeting that the revocation of the degrees for Flynn and Guilani was initiated a year ago, but former President David Dooley did not recommend going forward.
Flynn and Giuliani have both been involved in other controversial actions besides just the specific ones mentioned in the press release, such as Flynn allegedly taking a QAnon oath and Giuliani involving the Ukraine in investigations surrounding President Joe Biden.
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