Spelman College Cuts Ties with Bill Cosby in Wake of Recently Released Deposition

The Atlanta college opted to cut ties with the comedian after parts of an unsealed 2005 deposition revealed he admitted to giving Quaaludes to a woman before having sex

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Photo: Brennan Linsley/AP

Spelman College is officially discontinuing its endowed professorship with Bill Cosby, the college said in a statement to PEOPLE.

The historically black school announced that they had cut ties with the comedian after parts of a recently unsealed 2005 deposition showed that Cosby admitted he gave Quaaludes to a woman and had sex with her, among other details.

“The William and Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Endowed Professorship at Spelman College has been discontinued and related funds have been returned to the Clara Elizabeth Jackson Carter Foundation,” said Spelman spokesperson Audrey Arthur in a statement.

Spelman College did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s a request for comment. A rep for Cosby also did not immediately respond for comment.

The endowed professorship program, which was established in the name of Cosby, 78, and his wife Camille, brought scholars to the Atlanta campus. The professorship came after the couple donated $20 million to the school in 1988.

The professorship was initially suspended in 2014, according to the AP.

Bill Cosby Admits to Drugging Women to Have Sex with Them

The The Cosby Show star has long denied the bevy of sexual abuse allegations against him, and insists that all his extramarital relationships were consensual. He has never been charged with a crime related to the sexual assault accusations and his lawyer has previously called the claims “utter nonsense.”

On Thursday, the California Supreme Court threw out a petition by his lawyers to dismiss a lawsuit from Judy Huth, who claims Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him in 1974 when she was 15.

The denied petition clears the way for the delayed deposition of Cosby to proceed. If the deposition does in fact happen it will be the first time Cosby speaks about the allegations since the unsealed 2005 case.

With reporting by MARIA MERCEDES LARA

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