St Andrews University will not revoke Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s honorary degree

St Andrews University has confirmed it will not revoke the honorary degree it awarded to Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

There had been calls for the disgraced former head of the Catholic church in Scotland to be stripped of the honorary doctorate in divinity he received from Scotland’s oldest university back in 2004, after he admitted sexual misconduct two years ago.

However, the university’s senate business committee has now dismissed a request from a member of staff who had called publicly for the degree to be rescinded.

“After discussion, committee members agreed there was no case to recommend to Senate that the degree be revoked, and that it considered the matter closed,” the University said in a statement.

“The senate business committee recognises that universities award honorary degrees in good faith on the basis of evidence available to them at a point in time, that revocation cannot change or ameliorate the wrongs of the past and that, notwithstanding the very real hurt and loss caused by the actions of the honorand, it would be no more than an empty gesture.”

For more on this story, see Saturday’s Courier.