[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 6/20/02 ]
Accreditation issue not attack on chiropractic 
By JEANETTE PETROSINO 
I am a heavily indebted "investor" in the future of a young, promising 
chiropractic student at Life University. 
When I realized that my investment/stock was plummeting because it was in 
jeopardy of not receiving a degree, I took the five-hour ride down to Atlanta. 
What I witnessed in the next four days was enough to make me sick.
Last Thursday, I witnessed firsthand an assembly at Life, if you could call it that. 
This was more of a pep rally for Sid Williams, his family and chiropractors who 
subscribe to his particular "brand" of chiropractic.
All who were gathered anxiously awaited news as to what steps Life would be 
taking to get its accreditation reaffirmed. Many wanted to know what went wrong 
in the first place. Instead, we were read, not once, but four times, the 
procedures on how to file an appeal to the accrediting agency. 
From there, the students were encouraged to "march on the Capitol."
Many students, alum and faculty were walking around with new T-shirts that 
exclaimed "DEFENDER OF CHIROPRACTIC 2002."
Now I am not a rocket scientist, but in my simple mind, if a school -- any school 
-- loses its accreditation, that means (logically) there is something wrong with 
their educational process. I just could not grasp what losing accreditation had 
to do with defending chiropractic. So I proceeded to approach Williams. I 
expressed my concerns as a parent/investor about the substandard education 
my child was receiving and what was being done about it. His answer was: 
"Well, darling, this is about chiropractic. You just don't understand the whole 
picture." I would have loved to continue my conversation but was pushed aside 
by groupies wanting a photo shoot.
There are the two accrediting agencies for Life. I searched the Web sites of 
both. Nowhere can I find evidence that this is an attack on Life. Bottom line is 
they just didn't follow the protocol necessary to be an accredited university. This 
is not about chiropractic and how one chooses to practice. This is about a 
school whose administration and board of trustees repeatedly refuse to adhere 
to regulations for the betterment of the institution. 
Williams' battle is a political one that has been raging for as long as 
chiropractic has been around. It has nothing to do with the ability of this 
institution to graduate the 2,500 plus students who have spent millions of 
dollars to get a quality education they are obviously not receiving, according to 
the accrediting agencies. Life University has violated these students' rights.
There is a small group of students asking for the resignation of current upper 
administrative officials. I think more people need to listen to them. If this current 
administration couldn't get the job done in the past year plus, what makes 
anyone think they are going to get the job done in the next 120 days? Even if 
they win their right to an appeal, how and when are the improprieties at this 
school going to be fixed? I certainly hope someone does something so that my 
investment is able to receive a degree and practice in the profession.

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Jeanette Petrosino lives on Lake Norman, N.C.