By Victor Ordonez
Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, will address former “CBS This Morning” host Charlie Rose’s honorary degrees from Fordham University, in light of recent sexual misconduct allegations, at a Board of Trustees meeting on Dec. 14.
As part of a long list of institutions that previously granted awards to the former broadcast reporter, Fordham University awarded Rose an honorary degree in 2008. Rose also recieved the Osgood Award for Broadcast Journalism in 2015. WFUV granted Rose the Osgood Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism in 2015. WFUV did not comment in time for publication of the article.
In November, The Washington Post released an extensive investigation that included the accounts of eight women who say they were sexually harassed by Rose. “The women were employees or aspired to work for Rose at the “Charlie Rose” show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011,” wrote Irin Carmon and Amy Brittain for The Washington Post. “They ranged in age from 21 to 37 at the time of the alleged encounters.”
The encounters, as described in the article, depict inappropriate displays of nudity and unwanted sexual advances performed by Rose. Duke University has revoked the Futrell Award granted to Rose 17 years ago. Bill Adair, director of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy at Duke University, issued a statement addressing the allegations and the rescindment of Rose’s award.
“Today, we are taking the unprecedented step of rescinding our award to Charlie Rose,” wrote Adair. “I have consulted with students, faculty and staff and found an overwhelming consensus that we should take this action and emphasize that the DeWitt Wallace Center does not tolerate sexual harassment in any form.”
Rose was awarded the Osgood Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism at the first annual WFUV On the Record celebration of achievements in news and sports. The award is named after the renown WFUV alumnus Charles Osgood, FCRH ’54.
In 2016, the Fordham Board of Trustees condemned Bill Cosby’s alleged willingness to “drug and rape women for his own sexual gratification” and stripped the comedian of his 2001 honorary degree of the Fine Arts in a university wide email.
In order for the university to revoke an honorary degree, “a recipient’s actions would have to be both unambiguously dishonorable and have a deep impact,” according to the office of the president.
