Pressure mounts for Howard University to rescind Diddy’s honorary degree following allegations of abuse
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) – Howard University is “reviewing” allegations made against former student and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, according to a source with the university, as pressure mounts for the school to revoke the star’s honorary doctorate degree.
The University declined to comment on the situation.
The push comes as a Rolling Stone article published Wednesday detailed claims that Diddy abused a girlfriend on campus while a student in the late 80’s.
Diddy, who attended Howard before dropping out, was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in 2014. In 2023, Diddy made a $1 million donation to the university.
According to the article, the abuse took place outside the Harriet Tubman Quadrangle dorms.
“Combs allegedly screamed in a ‘belligerent’ manner for the young woman to come outside and began hitting her with what appeared to be a belt when she emerged,” said the article.
Sean Combs’ Violence Against Women Goes Back to College, Classmates Say
Prior to the report, federal investigators raided Diddy’s home in March amid allegations of sex abuse. And in mid-May, a video from 2016 surfaced that captured Diddy assaulting and kicking then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. Multiple lawsuits accusing Diddy of rape have also been filed.
“I personally think any man who puts his hands on a woman is not a man, no matter how successful you are,” said Justin Fields, a recent graduate of Howard.
Fields believes the university should rescind Diddy’s honorary degree.
“Is it their responsibility, 100%,” he said. “In terms of an honorary degree, us as students aren’t getting any intrinsic value from that. It’s more for his resume.”
“It’s very disturbing for me because he was really a huge part in the music industry back in the 90’s and early 2000’s. I just lost all respect for him,” said Howard junior Kennadi Rushing.
She isn’t convinced Howard should rescind the degree but believes the university should act.
“I wouldn’t consider him an alum because he didn’t finish his years here at Howard. Taking back his degree I don’t think would do us any good,” she explained. “I do think we should just cut ties with him, make sure he doesn’t come back on campus because I don’t want any other students feeling unsafe.”
Classmate Ariana Seldon agreed.
“Seeing what happened is extremely disappointing, seeing the video, especially what happened to Cassie,” said Seldon. “I feel like the conversation shouldn’t be around the honorary degree and it should be around the justice that Cassie receives.”
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs abuse allegations: A timeline of key events
In the wake of the Me-Too movement, universities have taken steps to rescind honorary degrees.
Universities including Johns Hopkins, George Washington, Temple University and more revoked honorary degrees for Bill Cosby.
Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he will consider revoking Diddy’s key to the city following the video of the rapper assaulting Venture.
“I think all of us were deeply disturbed by watching that chilling video of the young lady being assaulted by him. The committee and the team have never rescinded a key before, but we are now sitting down to see what the next steps forward are going to be,” Adams said during an interview with PIX11.
DC News Now reached out to attorneys for Diddy but did not hear back.
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