The rapper formerly known as Kanye West has seen his honorary doctorate revoked. The doctorate was awarded to him by the School Of The Art Institute Of Chicago (SAIC) in 2015, US media report. The move followed West's recent slew of comments deemed by many as racist and anti-semitic.
“The School of the Art Institute of Chicago condemns and repudiates Kanye West’s (now known as Ye) anti-Black, antisemitic, racist, and dangerous statements, particularly those directed at Black and Jewish communities. Ye’s actions do not align with SAIC’s mission and values, and we’ve rescinded his honorary degree,” the statement reads.
The school President Elisa Tenny particularly stressed in the letter that West received his honorary doctorate degree “in recognition for his artistic accomplishments to that point in time."
In the meantime, West`s “disturbing behaviors” and “dangerous statements” became incompatible with school values, the letter continued. Tenny especially stressed that it is the first case of the school revoking an honorary degree.
The revocation of West`s degree was triggered by a petition launched by a group of students, who call themselves “Against Hate At SAIC”. Their petition, where they claimed that West is using the school's name to legitimize hatred and violence, received over 4,000 signatures.
Kanye West recently made a series of comments that outraged US society, as well as the rest of the world. In an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, he praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Also, he implored Jewish people to forgive Hitler. He was suspended from Twitter for posting a swastika inside a Star of David.