The institution's board of trustees unanimously Friday to invalidate the honorary degrees of the former President Donald Trump's associates. According to a press release, the institution cited concerns Flynn and Giuliani did not maintain the university's values and standards. Both have been subpoenaed as part of the House committee investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
"As a civic institution, URI has the privilege and responsibility to sustain and preserve American democracy by inspiring and modeling good citizenship," said URI President Marc Parlange. "Revoking these honorary degrees reinforces our values and allows us to lead with truth and integrity."
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Honorary degrees are given to people for notable accomplishments in public life and are different from earned degrees. URI awarded Giuliani the Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa in 2003 for his leadership during the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. URI awarded Flynn, who graduated from the institution in 1981, the Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa in 2014. Flynn served as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency at the time.
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The URI Honorary Degree Committee recommended revoking both honorary degrees in December 2021, according to the institution. Parlange, who became the president of URI in 2021, praised the committee's request and forwarded it to the board.
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The committee mentioned several reasons to cancel their honorary degrees. This includes Flynn's call to establish "one religion" and his guilty plea of lying to the FBI about his discussions with a Russian envoy, though Trump acquitted him for the latter offense in November 2021.
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For Giuliani, the committee mentioned his engagement in a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, before the Capitol riot and his suspension from practicing law in Washington, D.C., and New York. His license was suspended after the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court concluded he gave "demonstrably false" information to the court about 2020 election fraud. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals cited the decision in New York when it suspended his license.
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The committee previously recommended nullifying the honorary degrees of both men last February. But the president of the university at the time, David Dooley, did not forward it to the board, the Providence Journal reported.
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When news broke that Parlange forwarded the committee's recommendation to the board earlier this week, Flynn condemned the move.
"This is another example of the cancellation of culture and wokeness in our academic institutions," Flynn told the Western Journal. "And I know there is a concerted effort to attack me from certain elements on the Left, mainly because of my very visible stance fighting back against the socialist takeover of our country."
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