Marist revokes Bill O'Reilly's honorary degree amid sexual harassment allegations

Bill O’Reilly no longer has an honorary degree from Marist College.

A statement from the Marist Board of Trustees, posted Feb. 4, said that the decision to revoke O’Reilly’s honorary degree is the response to accusations that the former Fox News host engaged in “multiple acts” of sexual misconduct and sexual harassment of women in the workplace.

O'Reilly was fired from Fox News in April 2017. In October, the New York Times reported O'Reilly had reached a $32 million settlement in January 2017 with a longtime network analyst over sexual harassment allegations.

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The board notes that while O’Reilly had denied the allegations, for many people the “reported payments of tens of millions of dollars and dismissal by Fox News lend credibility to the allegations against him.”

“Any form of sexual harassment or abuse is deeply contrary to the values of Marist College,” the board’s statement reads.

O’Reilly was awarded an honorary degree at Marist’s 2001 commencement ceremony.

Marist junior Tara Kinsella said she is "proud" of the college's move, and is happy to see the college is "with the movement" to end sexual misconduct. 

"I think that it was a way for Marist to address these social issues and take a stand, instead of just being neutral about it," the 20-year-old said. "By revoking it, it shows that Marist will not tolerate the behavior.... which will hopefully further the spread of this idea that voices matter and these issues are real, and they're coming to the forefront and there needs to be change." 

It was “events over the last year” that prompted the board of trustees to deliberate a possible revocation of the degree, said Julia Fishman, director of media relations at Marist College.

In November, the board decided the topic would be discussed during its regularly scheduled February meeting, Fishman said.

Senior Louis Duet, 22, said O'Reilly's honorary degree should "absolutely be revoked" if these allegations are true. 

"The work environment should be a safe environment, and our campus environment should definitely be a safe environment," Duet said. "I don't think it would be appropriate to (have someone that committed sexual harassment) representing the school." 

O’Reilly, a member of Marist's Class of 1971, was a history major, served as a columnist for Marist's newspaper, The Circle, and played on the school's first championship football team.

He hosted "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox, and is the author of the bestselling "Killing" series of historical nonfiction books.

In December 2015, O’Reilly helped establish the Peter P. O’Keefe, PhD. Endowed Scholarship, named after a former history professor at the college. O’Reilly donated $1 million to the scholarship, and planned to personally meet with recipients to provide advice and guidance.

According to Fishman, those endowed funds are “being used exactly as specified." Fishman said potential changes to the scholarship were not brought up during the board’s meeting, as the scholarship is not related to the honorary degree. Changes to the scholarship are not being discussed at this time, she said.  

Abbott Brant: abrant@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4809; Twitter: @AbbottBrantPoJo