August 2, 2018 – Statement from Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., on rescinding Cardinal McCarrick’s honorary degree

The only honorary degree that the University of Notre Dame has rescinded was that of Bill Cosby, and this action was taken only after judicial proceedings in criminal court concluded with a guilty verdict. Recently, serious allegations of sexual abuse by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a 2008 honorary degree recipient, were found ‘credible and substantiated’ by a review board of the New York Archdiocese…While the allegations in this case are most grave, as they were in the case of Bill Cosby, we believe it respects not only the rights of those involved but also the adjudicatory process itself to allow that process to reach a conclusion before taking action.