Lehigh University Trustees Rescind Trump’s Honorary Degree

Lehigh University faculty voted three years ago to take away the degree, but the trustees declined to do so at the time.

BETHLEHEM — Lehigh University’s board on Friday stripped President Donald Trump of an honorary degree it granted to him more than three decades ago.

The executive committee of the private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, moved to rescind the honor a day after a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, shortly after Trump made a speech nearby.

The Lehigh Board of Trustees affirmed that decision on Friday and issued a brief public statement that did not explain its reasoning for the decision.

The board of Wagner College in Staten Island, New York, on Friday also rescinded an honorary degree it had awarded to Trump in 2004.

Lehigh faculty three years ago voted overwhelmingly to ask the board to take back the degree, but the trustees declined to do so at that time.

Trump was awarded the honor in 1988, when he was Lehigh’s graduation speaker.