Happy 25th Kensington

http://icbmhyd.com/about-kensington.html


25 great years of providing....uh...uuuhhhh...ahem......hmmmm....ahhh...geepers you got me on that one!

 

There was a time when Kensington and Pacific Western were two of the more prominent unaccredited DL schools around. But the elimination of the "Authorized" category in California ended that. Good thing.

 

Possibly out of date

One of the ICBM pages about Kensington indicates that Kensington was "found in 1976" and is "nearing its 25th anniversary". This implies that the text was originally prepared circa 2000 or 2001.

However, Kensington's Hawaii corporation was dissolved in October 2003. Does Kensington still exist anywhere else? Nobody is home at http://www.kensington.edu.

There is currently a "Kensington College" in Santa Ana, California. The old Kensington University was also based in the greater Los Angeles area, in Glendale. The two schools may or may not be related; Kensington College looks like a legitimate, ACICS-accredited paralegal training program

 

"25 great years of providing....uh...uuuhhhh...ahem......hmmmm....ahhh..."

Wallpaper?

 

Rich:

Kind of scary when you think about it!

 

Kensington was certainly a focal point of unaccredited university activity in California in the 1970s. It was started by attorney Fred Calabro who had been the attorney for California Western which became California Coast and, I believe, saw how well it was doing, and decided to do his own. Various people left Kensington to start Pacific Western, the University of Beverly Hills (once a major player), and Century. And then Ray Chasse left Pacific Western to start American Coastline and a bunch of others, and Richard Hoyer acquired American Coastline, and in marched the Liberians and the Spokane gang and Swift Eagle, and the rest is still-being-made history.

John Bear
Griot

 

All of this because (a) California was extremely lenient in what was authorized to be a university, and (b) the accreditors were slow on the uptake regarding DL. Academics, for the most part, seemed to be a peripheral issue.

(At Jamesville, though, this kind of thing passes for legitimate in this era, which is absurd. Making state authorization/approval/licensure the standard is the same as having no standard at all.)

 

Rich:
"Making state authorization/approval/licensure the standard is the same as having no standard at all.)"

Well said.

 

Heck, the Jamesville standard is even lower. Degrees from schools not legally entitled to award them are fine, too, as long as Jamesville says it's okay. And they do, even if the school has phony faculty, has nonexistent presence, has "moved" to different jurisdictions, where there is absolutely no evidence that a legitimate school is in operation--but much evidence to show an illegitimate one is--and has awarded degrees in fields not earned by the recipient (and not supervised by a reader not qualified in the field). That's okay, too, at Jamesville.

 

There are licensed and practicing JD's with Kensigton degrees.

I never looked at than as diploma mill or degree mill, always was in my eyes an unaccredited school in USA.

Timeas change and toda there is little or no justification to be unaccredited not if you atarted 25+ years ego.


Learner

 

Lerner:

Kind of scary when you think about it!

 

Dr. Bear:

Thanks a lot various people!!! Thanks a whole lot!!

 

Scary Kensington attorneys?

No scarier than a practicing attorney from " People's college of Law " or another unaccreditted Law school.

Why is this so scary?

All have to pass the same Bar exam whether they are from Kensington or Stanford and if they can adequately represent their clients rights in a court of Law then there should be no question.

Look, I am sure that the prosecuting attorneys in the Jackson, Blake and OJ trials were from good, reputable schools.

Just pure conjecture but would you not have rather had the Kensington attorney prosecuting had they been able to get a conviction?

As always, just my humble opinion.

 

I say FWD gets a pat on the back for, if nothing else, figuring out a way to use "geepers" (which I think is actually spelled "jeepers," but no matter for our purposes here) credibly.

 

Or how about no degree at all?

Not really. In California (and certain other states), there are licensed and practicing attorneys who have no law degrees at all. One well-known example is Justice Marilyn Skoglund of the Vermont Supreme Court, who has a BA but never attended law school. It's a rare way to do it, but it does occur.

These states still allow people to qualify for the bar by legal apprenticeship (which was a routine practice well into the 20th Century). If you can qualify for the bar without any JD degree, then it doesn't seem like a stretch to qualify with an unaccredited degree.

California (and some other states) also allow people without engineering degrees to qualify for a Professional Engineer's license, if they get sufficient professional experience under PEs. It's not common, but it does occur.

 

Gregg,

(J)Geepers thanks!!! You may be right on spelling. I assumed it was a part of the "gee whiz" school of exclaimations!

 

Hmm... that really is quite logical, isn't it. In fact, "jeepers" did derive from "gee whiz," didn't it? If so, then your reasoning is flawless... even if the ultimate conclusion ends-up not being quite as one might expect.

That notwithstanding, I'm just impressed that you figured out a credible way to use it... and with a straight face, too.

 

CalDog

I have to respectfully disagree with you on this one. I'm in California,work in a career(architecture) that still allows apprenticeship and feel that passing an exam is not necessarily the best measure of ability. I considered it myself but felt it was just not adequate preparation for the toughest test you will ever face:clients and employers.

Apprenticeship in architecture at one time(a little stricter now)consisted of no more than showing up at an office for 7 years or so. And it didn't matter if you took out the trash or designed a house it was all just time in the bucket. I'm not against apprenticeship I just think it needs to be more guided. And the exam taken by the nondegreed should be much more comprehensive.

Dan

 

The way CalBar does it is they require the student at a D/L or unaccredited school or studying in a Judge's chambers or lawyer's office to document a certain number of clock hours in law study (and it is a LOT of clock hours!) and pass the Baby Bar after completing the first quarter and before receiving credit for any more than that.

So the analogy between having no degree, having a D/L degree, or having a resident degree from an unaccredited school is pretty apt.

 

The folks at the website listed below believe that the phrase Jeepers Creepers is a "minced oath," in this case an alternative to saying Jesus Christ. I don't really know the origin of such phrases but they seem rather certain of it.
http://www.takeourword.com/Issue087.html
Jack