Life University

Life University is located in Marietta, Georgia. It specializes in degrees in Chiropractic, and also offers programs in Pre-Chiropractic, Business, Nutrition, Sport Health Sciences and Biology. [1] The university's current president is Dr. Guy Riekeman, D.C., former Chancelor of the Palmer Chiropractic University System. Dr. Riekeman was appointed President of Life in March 2004.

History

Life University was founded in 1974 by Dr. Sid Williams as Life Chiropractic College. The university was established on the site of a placer gold mine. Twenty-two students attended the first classes in January, 1975. They became known as "Day one class". Yet by 1990, the school had grown to become the largest college of chiropractic in the world. [2]

Controversy

On June 7, 2002, the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) revoked Life University's accreditation. See timeline Timeline

The actual citations leading to revocation of Life's accrediation were not revealed to the public. Former students and graduates of the university have, however, come forward to claim that Dr. Williams' philosophy was such that nearly every instance of patients' pain and discomfort "are caused by subluxations and warrant chiropractic treatment." [3]

Dr. Williams resigned as President of Life University as a direct result of this incident, and the corporate board which had governed the university was dissolved. Michael J. Schmidt was appointed President to succeed Dr. Williams in August, 2002. A subsequent appeal kept the accreditation in force until October of that year, but by November enrollment at the school had plummeted to 865 students. In a lawsuit filed by Life against CCE in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Judge Charles E. Moye, Jr. granted an injunction on February 10, 2003 retroactively restoring Life's accreditation. [4] Because the injunction was retroactive, Life's accreditation effectively never ceased, though this has not yet dispelled the controversy.

On August 30, 2004, Dr. Sid Williams and Life University settled lawsuits which had been filed against one another, and Dr. Williams subsequently returned to association with the university. [5] Dr. Williams appeared before the Georgia Council of Chiropractic on September 11, 2004 to appeal for donations and support in the university's endeavour to become re-accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Life University's accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) was reaffirmed on December 7, 2004. The University is accredited through 2011.

External links

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