Bill Cosby said Monday that he is stepping down from the board of trustees at Temple University, the latest fallout over multiple sexual assault allegations against the comedian.
“I have always been proud of my association with Temple University,” Cosby said in a statement, as quoted by MyFoxPhilly.com. “I have always wanted to do what would be in the best interests of the university and its students. As a result, I have tendered my resignation from the Temple University Board of Trustees.”
Cosby has been a trustee at Temple since 1982, and he earned his bachelor’s degree from the Philadelphia institution in 1971.
With Cosby facing both new and old sexual allegations from 20 different women, the school had faced calls to sever ties with the comedian. Kerry Potter McCormick, an attorney who graduated from Temple in 2005, launched a petition on Change.org calling on the school to remove Cosby from the board.
A spokesperson for Temple said last week he wasn’t aware if Cosby had been asked to step down, but trustees said Monday that they would discuss his status soon.
Two other schools — the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and the Berklee College of Music in Boston — already broke off ties with Cosby.
Cosby’s name had been attached to a scholarship at Berklee and he was involved in a fundraising campaign at Amherst, where he received a doctorate in education in 1977.
