After Capitol riots, Lehigh University rescinds Trump's honorary degree from 1988

Lehigh University announced Friday it will rescind President Donald Trump’s honorary degree after pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.

In a message posted on the university’s social media accounts Friday, officials said the Executive Committee of the Lehigh University Board of Trustees voted in a special session Thursday to “rescind and revoke the honorary degree granted to Donald J. Trump in 1988.”

“The full Board of Trustees affirmed the decision today,” read the statement. Trump received the degree when he spoke at the commencement ceremony for the school, located in Bethlehem, Pa.

A message from the Board of Trustees: pic.twitter.com/SbRn0HUv7X

— Lehigh University (@LehighU) January 8, 2021

The move comes after Wednesday’s insurrection, which included rioters breeching the Capitol building shortly after leaving directly from Trump’s “Save America Rally” that began hours earlier near the White House.

Trump spoke to them for more than an hour, insisting, without evidence, that the election had been stolen and encouraged them to march to the U.S. Capitol as part of his pressure campaign on Vice President Mike Pence, who presided over the the proceedings.

A day following the riots, Lehigh University President John D. Simon said in a statement that “we witnessed a violent assault on the foundation of our democracy — the abiding respect for the will of the people exercised in a free election and the peaceful transfer of power.”

“I sincerely hope we can turn the sadness and anger that the lawlessness in our nations capital has evoked into motivation to make our nation more just,” Simon said Thursday. “I trust that it will inspire us to redouble our efforts to unite our country and encourage the peaceful pursuit of governance, guided by truth and reason. We have much work to do.”

A movement to rescind the honorary degree has been underway for some years. Lehigh twice declined to take action.