Tim Cole, the Texas Tech University student who was wrongfully convicted of raping a fellow student in 1985, has been awarded an honorary degree by the school.



Texas Tech University’s Board of Regents voted Friday (March 6) to award Cole the honorary degree.

Following the rape accusation, Cole was expelled from Texas Tech University. In 1986, he was convicted of rape. Cole spent the next 13 years in prison, dying there in 1999.

In 2009, DNA evidence proved Cole was not the rapist thanks to work by the Innocence Project of Texas. Another man, Jerry Wayne Johnson, confessed to the rape while he was serving a life sentence for an unrelated crime.

Cole was posthumously pardoned in 2010 by Gov. Rick Perry. The then-governor spoke at the unveiling of Cole's memorial statue this past September in Lubbock.

"This isn’t a political issue, this is a Texas issue. This was an American issue; this is an issue about us as human beings," said Perry.

According to Texas Tech, a faculty member must nominate a potential recipient to be considered for an honorary degree. Honors College associate dean Aliza Wong and Ricky Sherfield, the lead coordinator for the Cross Cultural Academic Advancement Center, had nominated Cole at the end of 2014.

Texas Tech President M. Duane Nellis then made a recommendation to the chancellor, who recommended it to the Board of Regents.

"Through no fault of his own, Timothy Cole did not realize the joyous moment of graduation and experience the rewards of earning a college degree," Nellis said in a statement. "In this bittersweet moment, we are proud to posthumously bestow this much deserved honorary law degree on Timothy and hope it lends to the long and difficult healing process the Cole family has endured."

Cory Session, Cole's younger brother and the policy director at the Innocence Project of Texas, thanked Texas Tech for the honor.

"We are grateful," he said. "It's been a quarter of a century, and we finally have justification for his education and his diploma. We are pleased."

A ceremony will be held in Lubbock May 15 at the Texas Tech School of Law to confer the honorary degree. Session's family will be present.