UPenn to strike Wynn’s name from scholarship, revoke honorary degree

The University of Pennsylvania is taking casino mogul and former Republican National Committee (RNC) finance chairman Steve Wynn’s name off a campus plaza and scholarship fund, as well as revoking his honorary degree, over allegations of sexual misconduct.

The decision came after a panel of trustees, alumni, deans and faculty at the school reviewed the allegations against Wynn, himself a Penn alumnus and former trustee at the university.

Penn President Amy Gutmann and David Cohen, the chairman of the school’s board of trustees, announced the decision in a letter to students, alumni and faculty on Thursday.

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Wynn Commons, a central plaza on the Philadelphia campus, will be renamed, the letter said, and Wynn’s name will also be removed from a scholarship fund created by a donation from the casino mogul. The university will also revoke an honorary doctorate given to Wynn in 2006.

At the same time, the school will revoke an honorary degree given to Bill Cosby, who also faces numerous allegations of sexual assault, the letter said.

“It has been a century since the University of Pennsylvania last revoked an honorary degree, and we do not take that decision – or the decision to remove Mr. Wynn’s name from the Commons and from the scholarship fund he created – lightly,” Gutmann and Cohen wrote.

The allegations against Wynn, the CEO of Wynn Resorts, were first reported by The Wall Street Journal last week. He has denied the allegations, and has blamed his ex-wife for instigating them.

Since then, stock prices for Wynn Resorts have plummeted, and gaming regulators in Nevada and Massachusetts have launched probes into the mogul’s alleged behavior. Wynn has resigned from his RNC post.

Gutmann and Cohen acknowledged that Wynn had denied the allegations, but noted that the allegations carried a significant “reputational impact” that warranted examination of the accusations.

“Our nation is currently undergoing a profound reckoning regarding the role and extent of sexual misconduct in all areas of our society,” they wrote. “It is incumbent on all of us to address these issues wherever and whenever we find that they affect our extended community.”

The allegations against Wynn came as a number of powerful men in business, politics, media, entertainment and beyond have faced accusations of sexual impropriety, harassment and abuse.