[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 7/6/02 ]
Panel ousts Life University trustee 
By MARY MacDONALD 
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer 
Life University trustees voted reluctantly to ask for the resignation of President 
Sid Williams and his family last week, believing it would help the school's 
chance of restoring its chiropractic accreditation, a former trustee said Friday.
Instead, former trustee James Sigafoose said, the vote spurred his removal 
from the trustees this week by a corporate board led by the president's 
daughter.
The action may damage the university's prospects of regaining chiropractic 
accreditation, he said. "It shows that when the board begins to take actions that 
are necessary, they are removed," Sigafoose said.
The board of corporate members, a three- to five-member panel that elects 
trustees, ended Sigafoose's 28-year tenure Wednesday. The letter received by 
the trustee Friday did not specify a reason.
The three-person corporate board is led by the president's daughter, Kim 
Williams, one of the family members employed at the university, Sigafoose 
said. "I've been quoted far too much in the paper, and my position is to do what 
is best for the students, not necessarily what is best for the administration," he 
said.
It is not known whether other trustees were dismissed. Milton Crouch, an 
attorney who represents the corporate members, said he did not know. The 
members could not be reached for comment.
The turmoil has left many wondering who is in charge at the university.
Williams, who founded the chiropractic school in 1974 and built it to national 
prominence, has vacated his campus offices. An executive committee of 
trustees is continuing to negotiate his exit as president, including whether he 
will return in a figurehead role, and is considering appointment of an interim 
president.
A representative of the Council on Chiropractic Education declined comment 
Friday on what effect, if any, new leadership might have on accreditation. 
For students returning Monday, the trustees have scheduled an open forum at 
10 a.m. to take questions and share information, said Will Hurst, a public 
relations adviser newly hired by the trustees. The meeting is in the gymnasium. 
"It's going to be a very blunt, straightforward presentation to the students," he 
said.
That's something students need to hear, said Marcus Schuster, 26, a student 
who will graduate in December.
"It is difficult to find out what's going on," he said. "What is being done to get the 
school's accreditation back, and what guarantee do students have that the 
school will be accredited?"