NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - Two journalism schools on Friday (Nov 24) rescinded honours they had previously awarded to news broadcaster Charlie Rose after allegations of sexual misconduct were levelled against him.
Arizona State University's journalism school announced that it was rescinding the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, named after the longtime news anchor, that it gave to Rose in 2015.
Also on Friday, the University of Kansas journalism school said it was taking back its William Allen White National Citation, which it gave him this year.
In a statement, Christopher Callahan, dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State, said he believed Rose's alleged transgressions were "so egregious that they demand nothing less than a reversal of history."
This was the first time the university had rescinded the award since it started to bestow it in 1984.
On Monday, The Washington Post published accounts from eight women, three of whom spoke on the record, of misbehaviour by Rose throughout his career, including groping, exposing himself to co-workers and inappropriate phone calls. The next day, he was fired by CBS, and PBS announced that it was ceasing distribution of his nightly interview program.
Past recipients of the Cronkite Award include Washington Post Co. chairwoman Katharine Graham, Watergate reporter Bob Woodward, and news anchors Christiane Amanpour, Gwen Ifill and Diane Sawyer.
In 2009, the Cronkite Award was given to Brian Williams, then the anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News."
In 2015, Williams admitted that he had falsely claimed he had been on a helicopter that was shot down in Iraq in 2003. The university did not rescind the award in his case.
Pointing to news reports detailing "sexual harassment and a pattern of unprofessional behaviour," the board of the University of Kansas' William Allen White Foundation withdrew Rose's National Citation with a vote.
Ann Brill, the dean of the university's journalism school, said in a statement that the board decided Rose did not live up to an inscription on the award's medallion, which bears the likeness of a celebrated Kansas newspaperman: "An American Journalist Who Exemplifies William Allen White Ideals in Service to His Profession and His Community."
