Williams presses for probe into CCE 
 
11/28/02
By Phillip Giltman
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
MARIETTA ã Life University¼s founder and former president is 
calling upon federal agencies to scrutinize the body that revoked 
the school¼s chiropractic accreditation. 
Dr. Sid Williams made the request after the university announced 
the school wouldn¼t be able to apply for accreditation from the 
Council on Chiropractic Education until June 2004. 
„The actions of the CCE, with the impact they have had on the lives 
of thousands, and with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake in 
the education marketplace, demand the scrutiny of all government 
agencies concerned with equal protection, fairness, competition and 
compliance with the law,¾ Dr. Sid Williams said in a prepared 
statement released Wednesday. „This includes the Federal Trade 
Commission, the U.S. Department of Education and perhaps the U.S. 
Department of Justice.¾
Williams said the CCE¼s decision is an obvious attempt to close 
down the 28-year-old university that once boasted an enrollment of 
3,500 students.
„It is now painfully obvious that the accrediting body has an agenda 
that includes no other goals but putting Life University out of 
business,¾ he said. „The divisions, controversy and marketplace 
damage CCE¼s recent decisions and recent directional changes have 
caused will set chiropractic back many decades.¾
Williams also listed a litany of concerns and issues that he said will 
be the subject of extensive debate and possible litigation over the 
next couple of months.
One of these concerns argues that the CCE is discriminating against 
conservative schools such as Life University who base their 
chiropractic education on the traditional „subluxation¾ approach, 
which contends that many ailments can be solved with adjustments 
to the spinal vertebrae.
„(The) CCE wants to drive chiropractic education across the 
traditional boundaries at the expense of core ideas of chiropractic,¾ 
he argues.
CCE members refused Wednesday to comment on Williams¼ 
assertions.
Williams also argues that the CCE¼s „drive to make demands of the 
chiropractic educational system¾ conflicts with state laws governing 
the practice of chiropractic.
„The mission of the CCE is now self-described as accrediting schools 
that educate åprimary care physicians,¼¾ he writes. „This mission 
statement was recently changed to replace the education of 
ådoctors of chiropractic¼ with the term åprimary care physicians.¼ This 
unilateral act seeks to broaden the scope of the accreditation 
process and a preliminary reading of the statutes and regulations 
indicates that the majority of states prohibit the use of the term 
åprimary care physicians¼ by doctors of chiropractic.
Williams also states that the CCE made every effort to limit 
participation by any graduate or representative of Life.
„In its entire history, no Life University graduate has held any 
position at the CCE,¾ he says. „This is in spite of (once) being the 
largest educational institution in the chiropractic profession.¾
Life University was stripped of its chiropractic accreditation on June 
10 and lost an appeal on Oct. 20 to lift the revocation. In October, 
interim-president Dr. Michael Schmidt said Life applied for 
accreditation on Oct. 21 and was hoping to regain its credentials by 
December 2003.
Newly appointed president Dr. Ben DeSpain told several hundred 
students at an assembly Friday afternoon that Life would have to 
wait until June 2004 before reapplying in hopes of being accredited 
by January 2005. The CCE requires a two-year window of 
compliance before a school can apply for accreditation.
Life spokesman Will Hurst said this window started in June when 
the school initially lost its chiropractic accreditation. 
pgiltman@mdjonline.com