Texas Tech University Should Grant a Posthumous Honorary Degree to Timothy Brian Cole

Timothy Brian Cole, a Texas Tech University student, was unjustly arrested for the brutal rape of Michele Jean Murray-Mallin that occurred in Lubbock on March 24–25, 1985. He was tried, wrongfully convicted without a single shred of physical evidence, ordered to serve 25 years, but during the thirteenth year of his sentence, he died in prison on December 02, 1999.

On the day before his trial began, Tim was offered a plea bargain if he would only admit guilt. He refused, because he knew that he was innocent. Later, his parole board offered to release him--but he refused, because he did not want to admit to a crime he did not commit. Furthermore, he said that he would rather spend his entire life behind bars rather than see his name on a sex offenders list and then have to constantly look over his shoulder.

Texas Tech University has refused in the past to grant a posthumous honorary degree to Tim Cole. The following paragraphs outline their reasons why—and then, we provide the justification as to why they should.

In a letter to Fred B. McKinley, the petition sponsor, dated September 01, 2011, Mr. Ben Lock, Executive Assistant to the Chancellor & Secretary of the Board of Regents, wrote, "The posthumous award of a degree is done only in cases where a student had completed most of the coursework required for the degree but passed before completing the remaining few courses needed to graduate.” He continued, "That was not the case with Mr. Cole."

We, the petitioners, argue that soon after Tim Cole’s arrest on April 10, 1985, Texas Tech University asked both Mr. Cole, who held a sophomore standing at the time, and his brother, Reginald Kennard, who was also enrolled at that juncture, to leave the University. Therefore, due to the combined actions of the Lubbock Police Department and Texas Tech University, Tim Cole, through no fault of his own, was unable to complete the necessary coursework outlined in Mr. Lock's letter dated September 01, 2011. 

Furthermore, according to Mr. Lock, “There is a process and a set of standards and criteria set out in Board policies” for the granting of a degree—with “the clear emphasis  . . . on distinguished and outstanding achievements by the honorary degree candidate. A candidate for an honorary degree must be evaluated on that person’s scholarly, creative, professional, service or occupational achievements.”

The current set of Texas Tech University’s Regents' Rules, Chapter 12 – Honorifics and Seals, approved and amended on August 09, 2013, includes a section that specifically pertains to honorary degrees, which is covered under Section 12.04 (12.04.1), bottom of page 2, ending on page 5 (12.04.10). We, the petitioners, argue that nothing contained therein mentions any requirement that in order for a former student to be considered, he/she must have completed a majority of the coursework toward an intended degree.

We, the petitioners, argue that both during his short life of freedom, and long after his death, Tim Cole’s service to the criminal justice system as a whole, to the State of Texas, and the entire nation is so immense and critically important that it most assuredly fulfills all of the required criteria used by Texas Tech University and the Regents' Rules to bestow honorary degrees, and specifically to Timothy Brian Cole.

Listed below are several unique accomplishments:

• Tim Cole served his country in the United States Army and was granted an honorable discharge on September 02, 1985.


• While he was in prison waiting on justice to prevail, Tim Cole donated money to worthy causes, and he also enrolled at Elkins Institute of Dallas and completed a correspondence course that earned for him a certificate in Small Business Entrepreneurship.


• For the first time in Texas history, a little-known provision in the Texas Constitution, which allows for the calling of a Court of Inquiry, was used by Jeff Blackburn, founder and chief legal counsel of the Innocence Project of Texas, to seek justice on behalf of an innocent person. DNA evidence and testimony were presented to the Honorable Charles Baird of the 299^th District Court of Texas, who issued on April 07, 2009, a full and formal vindication of Tim Cole, who became the first person in Texas and United States history to be posthumously exonerated by DNA.


• Tim was the first person in Texas history to receive a posthumous pardon. This action was made possible only as a result of a ruling by Greg Abbott, the Texas Attorney General, which gave the governor the power to grant “posthumous pardons.” Otherwise, that specific power would have required a constitutional amendment. Governor Rick Perry signed Tim’s posthumous pardon on March 01, 2010.


• With the passage of the Tim Cole Act by the Texas Legislature, exonerees of wrongful convictions receive $80,000 for each year of confinement through annuities that provide a life-time of income; educational benefits; and other programs designed to help them better assimilate into society.


• The Tim Cole case resulted in the passage of the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions. After several months of study, the panel recommended that the Texas Legislature adopt new standards in “eyewitness” procedures; in the manner that interrogations are conducted; and in the ordering of DNA testing. During a previous session, the Legislature passed these much-needed reforms which have become state law.


• Deserving applicants will now receive an education provided by a $100,000 scholarship in Tim Cole’s name at the Texas Tech School of Law.


• A State Historical Marker—the first of its type honoring a wrongfully-convicted person—was placed near Tim’s grave in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas.


• A 13-foot statue of Tim Cole was placed on park land donated by City of Lubbock near where Michele Murray’s abduction occurred at 1500 University.  This statue is the first of its type honoring a wrongfully-convicted person.

 In summary, it is now up to Texas Tech University to do the right thing, as did Judge Charles Baird of the 299^th District Court of Texas, the Texas Legislature, Attorney General Greg Abbott, Governor Rick Perry, various entities of law enforcement, the Texas Historical Commission, Mount Olivet Cemetery, and the City of Lubbock. 

Texas Tech, please grant an immediate posthumous honorary degree to Timothy Brian Cole.