Fate of Michael Flynn’s Honorary Degree: Cancel Culture v. QAnon Hero — URI’s Dilemma
Tuesday, June 01, 2021
General Michael Flynn is one of the most controversial political figures in the United States.
He achieved a distinguished career in the United States Army and is an active member of the QAnon movement.
Now, the University of Rhode Island is mired in a secret process to consider the repeal of an honorary degree bestowed to Flynn in 2014. The degree was given to the Middletown native and a graduate of URI just four years before he was named National Security Advisor by then-President Donald Trump.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
URI's Secret Meetings
Outgoing URI President David Dooley and the Board of the University are expected to make a decision on the fate of Flynn's degree in June.
A decision to repeal the degree will spark charges of URI succumbing to "cancel culture." On the flip side, does URI want the association with an extreme QAnon leader?
The consideration of the degree has been going on for months by a URI committee — the Honorary Degree Committee — whose meetings are not publicly advertised and are held in secret. Despite being a state university, URI officials defend the meetings being held without public notification or open to the public.
The committee is comprised almost exclusively of URI officials and students except for one outside member, former Providence Journal Editor Carol Young. Young told GoLocal, “The committee I am on is purely advisory in nature. We review all nominations for honorary degrees in any given year, narrow down the field to a half-dozen or so, and the list is forwarded to the President's office by the committee chair. Then, if I understand this right, the President makes recommendations to the governing board which actually makes the final decisions. BTW. I [am] not an alumna of URI, I am there as a ‘community representative.’”
“As it relates to the confidentiality of the honorary degree nomination and selection process and the consideration of rescinding a degree, the University believes that it would be subject to a balancing test according to the RI Access to Public Records Act. The University believes the privacy interests of the individuals nominated outweigh disclosure to the public until the honorary degree nomination, and selection process is final,” claimed Kelly K. Mahoney, the former executive director, external relations and communications at URI.
Mahoney recently quit her position at URI to join Deloitte, the state of Rhode Island’s contractor who built the UHIP data system — a system that had hundreds of millions of dollars of cost overruns.
Flynn’s Recent Controversy
Flynn appeared this weekend at a Texas political event where he appeared to suggest that a Myanmar-like military coup "should" happen in the United States.
Flynn made the remarks during a Q&A session at a conference called the "For God & Country Patriot Roundup" in Dallas, Texas on Sunday night.
"I want to know why what happened in Myanmar can't happen here?" one attendee asked, prompting loud applause from the crowd.
"No reason. I mean, it should happen here," Flynn said, to cheers from the crowd as well
The deadly coup in Myanmar has garnered international attention.
He later issued a statement.
Flynn denied suggesting a Myanmar-style military coup should happen in the US, reported Business Insider on Monday afternoon.
"Let me be VERY CLEAR – There is NO reason whatsoever for any coup in America, and I do not and have not at any time called for any action of that sort," Flynn said in a post on Telegram, a social-media app that has been favored by far-right groups.
In December, after President Joe Biden had won the election, Flynn said that Trump could use the military in key states to “re-run” the election.
“There is no way in the world we are going to be able to move forward as a nation. He could immediately, on his order, seize every single one of these [voting] machines, on his order,” Flynn said, citing Trumpworld’s unhinged conspiracy theory that voting software flipped Trump votes to Biden.
“He could order the, within the swing states, if he wanted to, he could take military capabilities, and he could place those in states and basically rerun an election in each of those states,” he continued, adding: “I mean, it’s not unprecedented. These people are out there talking about martial law like it’s something that we’ve never done. Martial law has been instituted 64 times.”
On July 4, Flynn appeared to publicly pledge his allegiance to QAnon and a video emerged showing Flynn reciting what is part of the QAnon pledge.
Flynn's brother Jack Flynn and his wife Leslie who were in the video sued cable news company CNN for $75 million - they claim they were defamed by the report alleging they were members of conspiracy group QAnon.
To add more to the endless string of controversies, this weekend Flynn reaffirmed his belief that Trump was rightfully elected in 2020. He has remained loyal to Trump. His office was just doors away from Trump’s in the West Wing of the White House, but he was forced out within just weeks after Trump's administration took office.
Decision in June
According to URI, the Committee has made a recommendation and that is now pending with Dooley and then he will make a recommendation to the full board.
“It sits with the president. The board has its next meeting end of June,” said Linda Acciardo, spokesperson of the University.
Related Articles
- RI’s Flynn Seeks to Withdraw Guilty Plea for Lying to FBI
- “I Don’t Think Trump Believes Wall Will Be Built” - RI Latino PAC’s Molina Flynn on LIVE
- Trump Jr. & Kushner Should Be “Very Unsettled” by Flynn’s Lack of Jail Time, Says Lawless on LIVE
- NEW: Flynn’s Sentencing Postponed; Judge Says Flynn “Sold Country Out”
- Michael Flynn’s Brother and His Wife Sue CNN for $75 Million Over QAnon Affiliation Report
- Gen. Flynn’s Lawyers Say New Unsealed Documents Show “FBI Setup”
- NEW: U.S. Justice Department Moves to Drop Charges Against RI’s General Flynn
- UPDATED: RI’s Flynn Says Myanmar-LIke Coup “Should Happen” in America
- Supreme Court Rules Trump Illegally Ended DACA - RI Immigration Attorney Molina Flynn LIVE
- NBC’s Meet the Press “Regrets” It “Inaccurately” Alleged Flynn Exoneration Was Political
- URI Refuses To Comment on Flynn’s Honorary Degree After He Is Banned By Twitter as a QAnon Activist
- URI Scrambles As General Flynn’s Ties to QAnon Come Under Greater Scrutiny
- Whitcomb: Respectable Raimondo Years; URI’s Dr. General Flynn, Gravest National Security Threat
- RI’s Flynn—Trump’s Former National Security Advisor—Purchases Home in FL, According to Reports
- Lawless on “Immediate Backlash” to Judge’s Harsh Rebuke of Flynn; Prospects for Sanders and Warren
- NEW: Mueller Calls for No Prison Time for Flynn According to Reports UPDATED
- President Trump May Pardon RI’s General Flynn
- Fox News’ Bartiromo Says Flynn Will Be “Completely Exonerated” This Week — Trump Retweets
