After reading the Viewpoint piece titled “Cut Notre Dame’s ties to Bill Cosby,” I was shocked and disappointed that the authors did not do their research. Their opinions were expressed solely on hearsay and limited facts. Your University prides itself on integrity, so I thought.
When did peer pressure become more important than someone’s life? It’s disappointing to see young adults and students entering into society with one-sided viewpoints.
Your opening statement is inaccurate: You wrote, “Mr. Cosby angrily responded that a 2.5 is OK if you have a mental disorder.” If I recall correctly, what Mr. Cosby said is “maybe you have a learning difference,” not disability or disorder but difference. Mr. Cosby’s late son struggled with dyslexia, so insinuating someone has a mental disorder is something I would imagine he would not take lightly.
The former student you were referring to, Dean Brown, became a principal for the Washington D.C. school system before he passed, so it’s likely whatever Mr. Cosby said influenced him more than it embarrassed him.
One can have a voice and share their own personal opinions in regards to anything in our society, but sometimes if we are too vocal we are singled out or labeled. It is moments like this that you can use the author’s voice and create a positive impact that makes a difference in the world. In search of the truth, who is brave enough to use a platform to seek and share the truth?
“One of the most sacred principles in the American criminal justice system is holding that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty.” Yet your piece is convicting without due process.
One of Bill Cosby’s attorneys who sat in on the deposition released a statement to Fordham University after it rescinded its honorary degree,
"Nothing in the single deposition recently released lends any support to, much less “confirms,” any such allegations. Nothing in his testimony admits to any nonconsensual sexual contact with any woman whatsoever. As you know, Mr. Cosby has been convicted of no crime and has steadfastly maintained his innocence. And yet the trustees felt entitled to sit in judgment and to announce that judgment with rhetorical flourish that is itself beyond the pale and worthy of condemnation."
It seems The Observer isn’t observing facts. The two authors try discovering the truth and using this platform to tell it, yet they allowed the mass media to distort feelings from facts.
Kia S. Wilson
Creative Director
Star Cloud Media Group
