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College suspends Cosby professorship; wife releases statement

An Atlanta college is suspending its endowed professorship with Bill Cosby amid allegations by several women that the comedian and actor sexually assaulted them.

Spelman College is the latest college to disassociate itself from Cosby.

Spelman says in a statement that the program was established in the name of Cosby and his wife, Camille, to bring positive attention and scholars to the campus. It said the goal was “to enhance our intellectual, cultural and creative life.”

In the statement, the college said the current situation “prevents us from continuing to meet these objectives fully” and the program will be suspended until the goals can again be met.

Cosby has stayed mostly silent after several women have accused him of having drugged and raped them and has denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, Cosby’s wife released a statement Monday saying the embattled comedian is in fact the man his fans have always loved.

Camille Cosby dismissed accusations from more than 15 women that they were drugged and raped by her husband as long ago as the late 1960s. She says these accusers aren’t being properly vetted by the media before their accounts are published or aired. The man they are accusing is “a man I do not know,” she said.

She suggested that her husband, not the women, is the actual victim.

The statement, released by Cosby spokesman David Brokaw, is the first public comment from Cosby’s longtime wife since a wave of allegations began swirling several weeks ago.

Associated Press