Thrilling Information of Oregon Thing

Thrilling Information of the Oregon Thing

“Contreras threatened to fine Benton $25,000 each time she was caught mentioning one or both of her BJU degrees, and said she might go to jail if she persisted. Despite laudatory reports on her teaching by supervisors and students, Benton lost her Umpqua position for a time, was embarrassed by the widely publicized attack on her competence, and worried that her family would be unable to pay its bills.”

http://www.expertwitness-on-education.com/benton.html

 

It should be noted that BJU (and many other unaccredited, primarily religious institutions) have a special section on the Oregon list where it is acknowledged that they are not mills. . .

But I am pretty sure that no employer has to accept them, either. They can be used without legal penalty, unlike mill degrees, but recognition can be refused.

 

acreditation politics

It should be noted, from this case, how much accreditation issues may be ideological and political rather than directed to any real matters of educational standards. Should be a warning to those who believe too passionately that RA always represents truth, justice and the American way.

 

Re: acreditation politics

Not sure what you mean here.

BJU hasn't been refused accreditation, they just choose to maintain their independence and not pursue it. The NA agencies that accredit other fundamentalist/evangelical institutions would have no problem accepting them.

There are other smaller, newer schools that take the same line and also practice academic rigor (New St. Andrew's in Idaho comes to mind first).

Meanwhile, Maharishi University of Management is fully RA, despite the fact that some of their faculty boast degrees from its non-existent Swiss counterpart and they claim to teach people how to fly.

Not saying either worldview is better than the other (as an atheist, I disagree with them both), but it just seems odd.

 

I'm not sure what should be thrilling me. It sounds as if Mr. Contreras was simply performing his duty as Oregon state law directed him to do.

It's conceivable that the ODA didn't originally have a procedure in place to approve degrees from relatively credible out-of-state non-accredited schools, since the wording of the statute doesn't seem to address them. And it's also possible that the court in this or some other case directed the ODA to create an approval process.

But the whole thing might simply have been moot if the ODA already had its approval process in place.

If the ODA had a procedure in place that was willing to consider approving BJU, BJU couldn't very well decline to be approved just because that would mean submission to worldly powers or something, and then turn right around and demand that those very same worldly powers recognize their degrees.

Here's the actual text of the relevant Oregon Revised Statutes.

ORS 348.609 reads:

No person who has been warned by the Oregon Department of Student Assistance Commission through the Office of Degree Authorization to cease and desist shall claim or represent that the person possesses any academic degree unless the degree has been awarded to or conferred upon the person by a school that:
(a) Has accreditation recognized by the United States Department of Education or the foreign equivalent of such accreditation; (b) Has been approved by the Oregon Department of Student Assistance Commission through the Office of Degree Authorization to offer and confer degrees in Oregon; or (c) Is described in ORS 348.594 (2).

The Oregon Student Assistance Commission College Opportunity Board shall adopt, by rule, standards and procedures for responding to complaints about degree claims and for validation of degree claims. Failure of a person to provide documentation of a claimed degree shall be prima facie evidence that the claim of such person to such degree is a violation of this section.

ORS 348.594 referred to above reads:

'School' includes a person, organization, school or institution of learning that confers or offers to confer an academic degree upon a person or to provide academic credit applicable to a degree.

'School' does not include: (a) An Oregon community college; (b) A state institution of higher education within the State System of Higher Education listed in ORS 352.002; (c) The Oregon Health Sciences University; or (d) A school that meets the criteria and procedures to obtain a religious exemption adopted by rule by the Oregon Student Assistance Commission College Opportunity Board and offers only degrees with approved titles in theology or religious occupations.

 

I don't think I understand this thread.

Someone posts an article about an incident that occured 4 years ago between someone named Benton and an Oregon official regarding a Bob Jones University degree? What is this supposed to mean in the present day context when the ODA has offically approved BJU degrees? Why should anyone be thrilled?

 

I agree with Mr. Huffman; the OP might also have pointed out that the court ruled in the plaintiff's favor, finding that her constitutional rights had been violated.

Sounds like Mr. Contreras has a bug...uh...somewhere about BJU.

 

Do we know this?

I'd be curious to know what the issues were in this case and precisely which constitutional rights were supposedly violated.

The Oregon statutes remain on the books. The ODA continues to exist and to function. So pretty clearly they weren't found unconstitutional.

One thing that I have little respect for are ad-hominem arguments.

It doesn't matter what Mr. Contreras thinks of BJU. What matters is that BJU isn't accredited and Oregon state law makes use of non-accredited degrees illegal in Oregon. Even if Contreras thought that BJU was the best school on earth, that opinion wouldn't change the law.

 

What is BJU? Brigham Jung University?

 

Bob Jones University, which is the jewel that unaccredited school fans love to point at. Last I heard, BJU was going to start the process of accreditation, not RA but real accreditation none the less.

 

Bob Jones University, in South Carolina.

They are an extremely conservative fundamntalist school that, despite having pretty good academics by many accounts, has steadfastly refused to seek accreditation because they believe that they are answerable only to God, not to worldly powers and principalities.

I believe that they have recently reversed that separatist stand slightly, by making an application to TRACS.

Apparently Bob Jones University felt that it could receive recognized accreditation through TRACS (itself a conservative fundamentalist accreditor) without thereby submitting to the dark powers of the fallen world.

 

"Bob Jones"? I liked "Brigham Jung" better.

 

BJU is about 40 minutes away from where I live, and I do work in that area a lot. BJU is well respected for their academics. In fact, many BJU graduates go on to Clemson, South Carolina, Duke, UNC, Georgia, and GT for graduate school without any problems. I worked with a BJU graduate years ago, and he was quite sharp. He went on to Clemson's MSEE program with no problem after BJU.

Now I must say, many around here respect BJU for their beliefs and principles, but see them as a little too straight and narrow.

 

It certainly is an interesting web page, but it raises more questions than it answers.

-Pretty clearly the owner is promoting himself as an expert witness, but at the same time showing an extreme bias.

-He attributes Alan's actions to politcal motivations which seems very unlikely in face of Alan's posts and his professionalism.

- The page states the owner has a BA from BJU and attended U of Chicago, but apparently has no graduate degrees?

-Plaintiff won damages of $1!? Woohoo?

 

Re: Re: Thrilling Information of Oregon Thing

That would seem to destroy the author's implicit contention that Alan or the state of Oregon had done anything wrong deliberately or maliciously.

 

2004 WL 1284063
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Appellate Brief

"Defendant Contreras' political, social, and religious views are contrary to those of Bob Jones University in many respects. At about the time defendant determined that Bob Jones degrees were not to be used in the State of Oregon, certain political views of Bob Jones University were given substantial media attention."

"However, defendant Contreras provided an inadequate explanation for discovering the unaccredited status of Bob Jones University while failing to take action with respect to the hundreds of foreign degrees used by faculty at Oregon colleges and universities."


CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

"Defendant Contreras singled out plaintiff's speech regarding her degrees because of the viewpoints expressed by the institution from which they were earned, and consequently, the viewpoints he attributed to plaintiff."

"The application of the regulations to plaintiff in this case burdened her right of free exercise of religion in conjunction with her free speech rights. Accordingly, the court finds that defendant Contreras' actions violated plaintiff's First Amendment right to free speech and free exercise of religion."
-----------------------


"[T]he significant salutary effect achieved by this litigation in that future action by defendants, with respect to similarly situated degree recipients, will be guided by the constitutional parameters delineated by plaintiff's efforts. In this respect, the success of plaintiff in obtaining a declaratipn that Contreras' conduct in singling out plaintiff's degree for regulation because of bias toward the viewpoints of the institution from which they were received not only serves to vindicate the harm to plaintiff, but to protect the public at large."


"Obtaining a declaration that her rights were violated serves an important purpose for plaintiff. She now has a judgment to point to in support of the trustworthiness of her education and her credentials."


2004 WL 1284063
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Appellate Brief

 

Ok, "Appellate brief"? Does that mean brief prepared by Plaintiff's Attorney? If so, it would be their allegations or interpretations but not necessarily anything close to the truth.

 

To say nothing of the fact that the Oregon statutes are still on the books and the ODA is still enforcing them. If the lawsuit's contention was that Ms. Benton's constitutional rights were violated, she apparently failed in getting the laws declared unconstitutional.

'Appellate brief' suggests that Ms. Benton's attorneys were requesting the appellate court to hear an appeal. That doesn't indicate that she believed that she had won her case.

 

As we used to say in high school, "no s*** Dick Tracy"......

LOL

I think there should be a BEU.... Bob Evans University.... to go along with it, that specializes in greasy chicken dinners, gravy, and fat southerners ruminating about ideology far beyond their capability to understand...

That being said, why someone would want to consider higher education that by its very definition forces one into a "straight and narrow" path, when the goal should be broadening of horizons and learning the truth, is beyond me.... But that's why I don't live in the area where BJU is located.

BJU..... could stand for something else too, but I won't go there today.

 

Talk about straight and narrow...

From:
http://www.multiracial.com/letters/bobjonesuniversity.html

Effective March 3, 2000, Bob Jones III has rescinded the ban on interracial dating. This letter no longer reflects current policy and is provided for information purposes only.

BOB JONES UNIVERSITY
Greenville, SC 29614-0001
864-242-5100
Admissions Office 1-800-BJ-AND-ME

August 31, 1998

Mr. James Landrith
P.O. Box 8208
Alexandria, VA 22306

Dear Mr. Landrith:

Thank you for your phone call requesting information concerning interracial relations here at Bob Jones University. The University has an open admissions policy, and we accept students of any race. The student body is fully integrated with all students participating in all activities and organizations regardless of race.

Bob Jones University does, however, have a rule prohibiting interracial dating among its students. God has separated people for His own purpose. He has erected barriers between the nations, not only land and sea barriers, but also ethnic, cultural, and language barriers. God has made people different one from another and intends those differences to remain. Bob Jones University is opposed to intermarriage of the races because it breaks down the barriers God has established. It mixes that which God separated and intends to keep separate. Every effort in world history to bring the world together has demonstrated man's self-reliance and his unwillingness to remain as God ordains. The attempts at one-worldism have been to devise a system without God and have fostered the promotion of a unity designed to give the world strength so that God is not needed and can be overthrown.

Although there is no verse in the Bible that dogmatically says that races should not intermarry, the whole plan of God as He has dealt with the races down through the ages indicates that interracial marriage is not best for man. We do believe we see principles, not specific verses, to give us direction for the avoidance of it.

The people who built the Tower of Babel were seeking a man-glorifying unity which God has not ordained (Gen. 11:4-6). Much of the agitation for intermarriage among the races today is for the same reason. It is promoted by one-worlders, and we oppose it for the same reason that we oppose religious ecumenism, globalism, one-world economy, one-world police force, unisex, etc. When Jesus Christ returns to the earth, He will establish world unity, but until then, a divided earth seems to be His plan.

Of course, we realize that this is controversial position and that there are many fine Christians who disagree with us on it. We recognize the right of other Christians to hold differing views; we only hope that they will recognize the sincerity and love with which we hold ours.

Christian students of all races find a happy and harmonious atmosphere here at the University, and the number of minority students grows every year. We believe prejudice to be Biblically wrong, and it is not tolerated in the student body.

I trust this information is helpful to you. Kind regards.

Sincerely yours,
Jonathan Pait
Community Relations Coordinator