O’Reilly Revoked: Students Surrounding Marist Speak Out on the Controversial Decision
Bill O’Reilly: former Circle writer, history major, and honors student at Marist College. After previous allegations of sexual misconduct between O’Reilly and his female colleagues, Marist revoked O’Reilly’s honorary degree. Since then, there have been mixed discussions about whether or not this was the right decision.
O’Reilly, host of political talk show, The O’Reilly Factor, donates millions of dollars to dozens of charity organizations as well as Marist to help students get the education they deserve. Amid the allegations are students, parents, and faculty members who have been actively expressing their opinion on the matter.
Whether or not the sexual misconduct actually took place, students at Vassar College had a lot to say about Marist’s decision. Monica Robinson, a sophomore at Vassar, said she does not view Marist any differently. “At some points, I do agree with Marist’s decision. It’s good to hold people responsible, so I would never hold it against him. I do think something that should have been done for their sake if they honestly though that’s what they had to do.”
Vassar, a co-ed, liberal arts college also in the town of Poughkeepsie, holds around 2,450 students and 300 total faculty members. A majority of the students felt satisfied with the decision and hopes that other schools will follow suit.
Another sophomore student, Zane Diamond, admires the fact that society is progressing in the right direction in terms of sexual assault. “It’s a really hard topic,” he said, “I’m glad that they did it, but academia is fraught with this type of misconduct.” Diamond continued saying that most institutions are similar in this way. “I think that this is a good step in the right direction, especially since it was an honorary degree, and I’m not so sure about how I feel about honorary degrees to begin with.”
The honorary degree is usually given to those who show outstanding contributions to a specific field or society. Colleges and universities usually waive the traditional requirements, like residency or passing exams and identify the awardee commendably.
On the other hand, the world’s top culinary school, the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), has some other opinion on the situation. William Tabernan, a second year student, is strongly familiar with O’Reilly and expressed confusion as to why Marist made this controversial decision. “It seems as though they have very little to gain from it. Maybe if they had done it a week or a few days after it was happening, they could have had something but at this point they just look ridiculous. They’re not going to gain anything from it. It’s weird that it took however many months it did to get this through and it’s a very meaningless gesture.”
In a New York Times interview, O’Reilly defended himself, denying the allegations. “It’s horrible what I went through, horrible what my family went through,” he said, “This is crap, and you know it.”
The debate and discussion seems to be an ongoing argument between the two opposing viewpoints and for those around the area who are informed about it. Some are remaining hopeful for future proaction. “I think the next step would be to crack down on sexual assault, harassment and abuse in their own institutions and I think most colleges should do the same,” Diamond said.
