Howard University’s Board of Trustees voted on Friday to revoke Sean Combs’s honorary degree and return his $1 million contribution.
The Board voted to accept the return of Combs’s honorary degree during a regularly scheduled meeting on June 7, 2024.
The vote was held after news broke that Combs beat an ex-girlfriend with a belt when they were both students at Howard University in Washington, DC.
Combs, 54, was a student at Howard from 1987 to 1989.
In a statement issued on Friday, a spokesperson said the Board revoked all honors and privileges associated with the degree conferred upon Combs in 2014.
The statement mentioned hotel video obtained by CNN that shows Combs kicking and dragging his ex, Cassie, in 2016.
“This acceptance revokes all honors and privileges associated with the degree. Accordingly, the Board has directed that his name be removed from all documents listing honorary degree recipients of Howard University.
Mr. Combs’ behavior as captured in a recently released video is so fundamentally incompatible with Howard University’s core values and beliefs that he is deemed no longer worthy to hold the institution’s highest honor.
The University is unwavering in its opposition to all acts of interpersonal violence.”
Additionally, Howard University voted to return his $1 million contribution, terminate a 2016 gift agreement with Combs, and disband the scholarship program in his name.
