On Thursday, April 26, Bill Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault: penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant. Cosby is now a convicted felon guilty of sexual assault, after decades of suspected behavior, and can face up to 10 years in prison according to NBC news.

Cosby, by his own admission, has repeatedly drugged and molested women. He was and is a predator, maliciously targeting women so he could rape them. He lied about who he was, hid his true agenda, convinced women they could trust him, and summarily violated them. Cosby truly represents a complete breakdown of the moral values and ideals that we all hope to demonstrate and emulate.

In 2001, Rensselaer awarded Bill Cosby an honorary doctorate in arts and humane letters. Of the 57 honorary degrees he has been awarded, 36 have been rescinded since 2014. His honorary rank of Chief Petty Officer of the United States Navy has also been rescinded.

We demand action from the RPI Board of Trustees: rescind Bill Cosby’s honorary degree. Cosby stands against the values that RPI claims to champion and hopes to instill in everyone who walks through our doors. We advocate and preach consent in our actions and undeniable respect for others. We are committed to the health and safety of our students, the non-violation of other humans, and the preservation of dignity for all. We hope that our students become virtuous, that they help those in need, and that they display an ethical character in every action they take. Cosby is the antithesis of these community values.

Rescinding Mr. Cosby’s honorary degree isn’t an issue that requires speculation or excessive reflection; Cosby’s moral values are not a matter discussion. The RPI community should not—now or ever—honor Cosby in any way. It’s shameful that RPI has silently looked on, by while Ivy League colleges such as Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania, as well as governmental services like the United States Navy, have denounced Cosby. We need to stand up and rebuke Cosby, unafraid to speak out and unwilling to continue our support of someone this abhorrent.

To our fellow students: no person so reprehensible, no actions so deplorable, should ever represent us and our values, and we should not stand behind someone as loathsome and disgraceful as Bill Cosby. We hope you join us in signing our petition at petitions.union.rpi.edu demanding the rescission of Bill Cosby’s honorary degree.

Bryan Johns CSCI/BMGT ’19

Michael Gardner CSE/CS ’17, TC&E G’18

Hanna Neuman CSCI ’20

Jason Colville BMED ’17

Erica Lane BMED ’18

Ellie Mees ECSE ’18

Mitch Cieminski STS G’22

N. Bucky Stanton STS G’22

Jacob Speicher CSCI / COGS ’19

Steve Sperazza ECSE ’17, G’18

Erin Napier CIVL ’19

Taylor Vines CHME ’20

Katherine Crofford MECL ’21

Claudia Howes PHYS/PSYC ’19

Yarden Ne’eman CS/ITWS ’18

Victoria Makara NUCL ’20

Liam Fahey AERO ’20

Felicity Kubic MECL ’19

Justin Reimertz BFMB ’18

Advaith Narayan MECL ’21

Anastasia Feraco MTLE ’19

Jackson Wong MTLE ’18

Pranav Suppal BMED ’20

Chris Daniels CHME ’18

R. Fiona Smith PHYS ’18

Aquiel Godeau ELEC ’18

Nicholas Luczak CSCI ’20

Alex Norman PHYS/MATH ’18

Rose Clare Pisacano ENVE ’18

Robert Van Brocklin BCBP ’19

Kelly Odgers PHYS G’20

Hannah Bouta AERO/MECL ’19

Emma Steed CSCI ’19

Lindsey Carpenter ARCH ’20

Maddie Steinmetz ARCH ’20

Amanda March ARCH ’20

Mia Rogers ARCH ’20

Sarah Cimino ARCH ’20

Grace Roller CSCI ’20

Noah Cohen AERO ’21

Newman Wu ELEC ’18

Shu Nong Wu ECSE ’18

Samichya Sapkota BME ’20

Bhagyashree Subramaniam BME ’19

Oliva Constamessa CHME ’19

Erin Lazar CHME ’19

Nathaniel Wheeler CSCI ’19

Eric Franco GSAS ’20

Jordan Faas-Bush CSCI/GSAS ’20

Elizabeth O’Deens CSCI ’20

Hannah Merrow PSYS/STSO ’18

Justin Etzine CSCI/ITWS ’18, MBA ’19

James Flamino PHYS ’17, G’21

Galen Gold ELEC ’20

Chase Roberts CSCI/MATH ’18

Amy Lemos ENVE ’20

Allison Sobota EE/MECL ’20

Akhil Jacob CSYS ’20

Daniel Lapidus MECL ’18

Valrérie Fix COG/CS

Michaela Yamashita MECL/DIS ’18

Esmeralda Ramirez BME ’19

Carlos Power ITWS ’21

Alex Jackowski CSCI ’20

Lacus Davis CS/MATH ’20

James Cassidy MECL/CS ’20

Adam Rabinowitz CS/MATH ’20

Katherine Mamouzellos AERO ’20

Colin Nagle CIVL ’20

Mackenzie Dymek AERO/MECL ’20

Danielle Rodriguez MGTE ’21

Allison Douglas ENVE ’21

Stefanie Warner ARCH ’19

Christian Bossio BMED ’19

Michael Miller MECL ’21

Timothy Haddad CIVL ’20

Christina Deng CIVL ’21

Theodor Ross EE/BME ’18

Chris Noury CHME ’20

Alexander Cope CHME ’20

Clara Johnson MECL ’20

Kinza Siddiqui CSCI ’20

Glenn Edmonds PHYS ’20

Sammy Moumen CHME ’20

Peter Firmin CHME ’20

Robert Nilsen ARCH ’19

Sanjana Davuluri BFMB ’20

Amechi Nwandu MGTE ’21

Gabriel Benelli CSCI ’21

Henry Lutz CHME ’21

Francis Mulvey MECL ’21

Ascanio Montemaggi PHYS ’21

Samantha Griswold MECL ’21

Ryan Emerling CSCI ’21

Rachel Puppale CSCI ’20

Gary Zhu CSYS ’20

Alex Gentile CSCI ’18

Jarrett Amirault BIOL ’20

Aspen Goodman MGMT ’20

Monisha Das CHME/STS ’20

Thomas Jansson ARCH ’20

Ryan Salmon ARCH ’20

Nirav Patel AERO ’20

Pooja Bala BFMB ’21

Jaydeep Patel CSE/EE ’21

Melissa Mann BGMT ’18

Yuantai Li CSCI ’19

Stanley Cheung CSCI ’18

Diana Klyuchnik EE ’20

Dakota Schiffer IME/PDI ’19

Zoe Shannon IME ’20

Franchine Pataray IME/PDI ’19

Henry Jacques MECL ’21

Hailey Miller AERO ’21

Chris Testa MECL ’21

Laura Kling BCBP ’21

Erin Kelley BFMB ’21

Gurjeet Singh AERO ’20

Ethan Rose CSCI/MATH ’20

Tim George MECL ’20

Caroline Fowler BIOL ’20

Grace Heine BIOL ’20

Benjamin Mo BME ’20

Henry Grover CSCI ’19

Matthew Fields MTLE ’18

Joey Lyon CSCI ’20

Caitlyn Gardiner CSCI ’19

Nathan Rosengrant MECL ’18

Shin Sasakura MECL ’21

Aislin Charles CIVL ’21

Sarah MacLead Undeclared ’21

Kerryn Herrington BMED ’20

Kristina Kristo BMED ’20

Naomi Robinson CHME ’19

Jake Miner ELEC ’20

Daniel Speer MECL ’20

Zachary Fournier AERO ’20

Logan Ngan DIS/MECL ’21

Adam Kredar CSYS ’19

Charles Howlingcrane CHME ’20

Noah Emrick MECL ’20

Kevin Sanita CSCI/CSYS ’20

Brendan Freiler CSCI/CSYS ’18

Zachary Taylor AERO ’21

Josephine Lyons MATH/CSCI ’20

Tenzin Tashi MTLE ’19

Calliana Faulk PSYC ’19

Molly Osterberg GSAS ’18

Catherine Loughman AERO ’20

David Raab ELEC ’19

Ethan Gibson CSCI ’20

Isabella Arroyo MATH ’20

Kolby Fisher CSCI ’21

Majken Rasmussen PHYS ’20

Jennifer Howell-Clark PHYS G’20

Shea Roe BFMB ’20

Sean Ferracioli MECL ’18

Olivia Paradis BMED/ELEC ’19

Kaitlyn Morris CHME ’21

Iris Delaney CHME ’20

Katherine Spencer MECL ’19

Shalini Kandula BIOL ’18

Alexandra Sirois BMED ’18

Cameron Dias CHME ’19

Gabrielle Gentile CHME ’21

Karen Zhu BIOL ’19

Alexandra Laing NUCL ’20

Melanie Psota CHME ’18

Julia Vinagolu-Baur MGMT ’18 G’19

Helen Merricks BIOL ’18

Claira Poirier CSCI ’18

Dan Bruce ITWS ’16

Devin Dicello BMED ’19

Nancy Bush CHEM/SUST ’19

Milo Trujillo CSCI/STSO ’18

Chiara Mancinelli CHEM ’19

Raina Page ARCH ’19

Connor Griffin GSAS/COMM ’19

Keegan Caraway ECSE ’18

Alyssa Quezada BMED ’20

Michael Cuozzo MECL ‘17

Mary Clare Crochiere BMED ’19

Lauriane Gaudette BMED ’18

Meghan Quinn CHME ’20

Rebecca Nungesser CHME ’20

David Sparkman ITWS ’18

Kayla Cinnamon ITWS ’18

Imani Taylor ITWS ’20

Mohammed Ghani MECL ’18

Matthew DeMio ARCH ’19

Emily Roth BME ’19

Benjamin Shaw CSCI ’18

Alex Carandang MECL ’18

Tyler Miller COGS ’20

Joerene Aviles BMED ’19