NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

2 more colleges revoke honorary degrees given to Bill Cosby

BOSTON

Two more colleges announced Thursday they have rescinded honorary degrees given to Bill Cosby, adding to a growing list of schools distancing themselves from the entertainer embroiled in allegations of sexual assault.

Tufts University in Medford, Mass., said it withdrew an honorary doctorate of arts it conferred on Cosby in 2000, along with an award given in 2011 for excellence in children’s media.

Baltimore’s Goucher College, meanwhile, said it decided to revoke an honorary degree it gave to Cosby when he was commencement speaker in 2001.

Both schools said they had notified Cosby of their actions.

Court documents unsealed in July show the 78-year-old Cosby admitting extramarital relationships with several women, some of whom accuse him of sexual assault.

Cosby never has been charged with a crime.

Thursday’s revocations came a day after Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University rescinded an honorary degree given in 2005.

Randy Quaid, wife released from Vt. jail

ST. ALBANS, Vt.

Released from Vermont custody, actor Randy Quaid and his wife said Thursday they now will turn their attention to resolving 5-year-old criminal charges in California that they squatted in a home they once owned and vandalized the property.

A Vermont judge dismissed fugitive-from-justice charges against the couple and released them, citing discrepancies in some dates and saying she couldn’t find probable cause to support the accusations.

The Quaids are wanted in Santa Barbara, Calif., on felony charges filed in 2010 after they were found living in a guesthouse of a home they previously owned. Court papers said the Quaids damaged or destroyed furniture, a fireplace and a mirror. The couple fled to Canada and were arrested in Vermont last Friday while trying to re-enter the U.S.

After they left the courthouse Thursday, the Quaids said they’ll stay in Lincoln, Vt., to care for Evi Quaid’s ailing father and address the California charges. She grew up in Vermont.

Associated Press