Northwestern withdrew an offer to give Barack Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, an honorary degree this year, Al Cubbage, vice president for university relations, said in a statement Wednesday night.

During a Sunday sermon in Dallas, Wright, the former minister of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, said NU was planning on presenting him with a doctorate in sacred theology. After controversial clips of Wright’s sermons became public, the pastor said NU withdrew the offer, according to an article in The Fort Worth Star Telegram.

“The president of the university called and told me he was withdrawing the degree because I was not patriotic,” Wright told the congregation at Friendship-West Baptist Church, according to the article.

Earlier this year, NU extended an invitation to Wright to receive an honorary degree at June’s commencement based on the recommendation of faculty committees, according to a statement, Cubbage wrote in an e-mail.

“In light of the controversy around Dr. Wright and to ensure that the celebratory character of Commencement not be affected, the University has withdrawn its invitation to Dr. Wright,” according to the statement. Cubbage declined further comment.

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Northwestern University’s statement on the degree offer to Rev. Jeremiah Wright:”Earlier this academic year, acting on the recommendation of faculty committees, Northwestern University extended an invitation to the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, former senior minister of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, to receive an honorary degree at Northwestern’s Commencement in June. Commencement at Northwestern is a time of celebration of the accomplishments of Northwestern’s graduating students and their families. In light of the controversy around Dr. Wright and to ensure that the celebratory character of Commencement not be affected, the University has withdrawn its invitation to Dr. Wright.”