Honorary religious degree's

"Suddenly"? I wonder. According to Van Impe's Wikipedia page, he holds 15 doctorates. Certainly they can't ALL be fake? What would that say about the veracity of the other things he professes? Or was everything else cool until the fake degrees?

Okay, I surrender. It's not a fantasy within another fantasy. It's a fraud within a much bigger fraud. (I do love the fact that his latest school evokes the name "Pacific" while operating from Missouri. Very nice.)

 

I think this is one totally ridiculous individual.

From the Wiki on Van Impe:

"On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel mocked Van Impe for stating that the word "computer" added up to 666 by adding up the number of each letter in the word multiplied by 6, and for saying that the antichrist will use computers to keep track of people. Kimmel further criticized Jack Van Impe Ministries for giving instructions on how to access and download content from their website, right after talking about how evil computers are."

15Dr. Van Impe :jester: should have bought a side-order of education with one or two of his 15 "doctorates!"

Johann

 

I dont think they should use the title "Dr.", if they just simply purchased a degree. That's insane!
However, ss long as it is state approved school with some decent credentials...I applaud them for not going through "governmental" accreditation. Remember, this is the same government that is partially shut down due to lack of comprehension of current events. The only thing accreditation does is put more money in the government's pocket.....period. Do I really want my degree to be monitored by a government that can't even agree to disagree? I think they should be able to use the title "Dr." if it is an unaccredited degree from a school that has a solid history with decent credentials...not a diploma mill....two different things....I don't care what the Oregon list says. Most states would not pass laws that say you could use a degree from an unaccredited religious institution......as long as it was for religious private purposes...if they didnt know what they were talking about. If you can cut cost, save money, and use your degree on your resume (for private or religious purposes only)...then YEEE HAWWW.

Remember, this is the same government that can't oversee anything without problems....so why do we leave our education in their hands??

 

I tried to let this go, but....

Interesting assessment. I would suggest it is closer to "insane" to take these things--and their perpetrators--seriously.

This is both oxymoronic and factually incorrect. First, the government doesn't accredit schools, private agencies do. The government performs the role of approving accrediting agencies for the purposes of dispensing financial aid. But the accreditors are made up of their member schools and are, in turn, members of another private organization, CHEA.

Second, you bemoan "governmental" accreditation, but think state approval (a real governmental process) is okay. This is contradictory.

No, it isn't. States, not the federal government, determine what is and is not a university in their jurisdictions.

No. This is wrong. But state approval/authorization/licensure--which you extol--certainly does.

Again, factually incorrect. Unlike almost every other nation in the world, the U.S. does not do this.

The Oregon list makes distinctions you don't give it credit for. It includes some unaccredited schools. As for the difference between an unaccredited school and a diploma mill, that's in the eye of the beholder. Good luck setting criteria that make those distinctions effectively.

Actually, the states are all over the place with this, and almost always it involves First Amendment issues, not ones regarding quality. Some states let religious schools do pretty much what they want, others regulate them to varying degrees. This should make you more dubious of them, not less.

Higher education is not in the hands of the federal government--it is an extremely private matter for such a public institution.

 

You have made some statements that are factually incorrect and some that are correct. Who do you think controls these private accrediting agencies???The USDOE....which "approves" or "disapproves" the private accrediting bodies do receive monies. I dont understand why you would think different. The fact that schools are state approved just means that it is registered and/or religiously exempt, but registered which exempts those schools from participating in financial aid....hmmmm, but yet the federal government doesn't receive monies??? I'll have to get back to that one, considering they are budgeted to receive monies from schools, and from states, to receive money and participate in FEDERAL AID. Interesting point of view though. The Oregon list actually lists unaccredited schools that were or are in the middle of both RA and NA accreditation and calls them diploma mills. They approve some unaccredited schools...of course most of them are in Oregon...go figure. They list unaccredited schools that are state approved and have been around for years and have their credits are accepted into RA schools...and they call them diploma mills??? You've got to be kidding me. Yes, I'm sure there are some out there, but a diploma mill is an institution that allows to one to purchase a degree with little to no work or effort. If there are unaccredited schools out there, where there are proctored exams, written papers, etc...., then they should not be labeled a mill, just unaccredited....which some employers (non-government) accept. Oregon is pretty tough on schools they should not be, yet there are mills popping up everyday that are not on that list. So I take the Oregon list with a grain of salt.

 

I would be interested in having you substantiate this statement. Please produce this portion of the list. Or the entire list for that matter.

 

Well, if Daily News can't - I can. At least some of it. Here's the old Oregon "Unaccredited list" of degrees illegal for use in Oregon. From the old ODA website, via the Wayback Machine:

•Barrington University (Alabama)
•Berne University (New Hampshire/St. Kitts)
•California Coast University (California)
•Canyon College (Idaho)
•Columbia Pacific University (California/Hawaii), now closed by court order
•Columbia Southern University (Alabama)
•Columbia State University (Louisiana), now closed by court order
•Frederick Taylor University (Hawaii, California)
•Greenleaf University (Missouri?)
•Harrington University (Great Britain)
•Kennedy-Western University (Wyoming, formerly California)
•Kensington University (Hawaii, California?)
•LaSalle University (Louisiana), no connection to legitimate LaSalle of Pennsylvania
•Monticello University (Kansas), now closed by court order
•Oxford International University (Great Britain?) Not the same as Oxford U. in England
•Preston University (Pennsylvania?, California?)
•Rushmore University (South Dakota)
•St. Christopher’s College of Medicine (Great Britain, Florida, Senegal)
•St. Johns University College of Medicine (Montserrat?) now closed by court order
•University of Northern Washington (Hawaii)
•University of San Moritz (Great Britain? Cyprus?)
•University of Santa Barbara (California), not the same as UC-Santa Barbara
•University of Santa Monica (California)

CalCoast is now DETC accredited. I believe this list is from back around 2000. The only other school worth mentioning is Frederick Taylor U. This California school has been operating for quite a few years, with State Approval. It did have a Hawaii branch that was closed during the "Jeff Brunton Reformation" that changed the landscape for unaccredited schools in that State. I know of one (or at most, two) FTU grads who made it into RA schools for a Master's program - but I don't think it's a case of "having credits accepted into RA schools." Probably the RA school(s) made exception for a person with obvious smarts, potential and knowledge, despite an unaccredited degree. Course-by course, I don't know of any RA school that will give you transfer credit.

The rest of the schools don't really rate anything but negative mention, as I see it and many of them are closed. The ODA has certainly made mistakes in the past and included accredited schools. I remember they wrongly listed Virginia International U. long after it became ACICS-accredited. But that's something else, entirely.

People hated the ODA and its list for a variety or reasons and it has been a target for lawsuits. Many bad things have been said about the ODA and some I believe, myself. But - as Kizmet observed - this statement is unsubstantiated - and I can't find evidence to substantiate it.

Johann

 

In my mind (not to be confused with reality) there are two basic reasons for awarding "honorary doctoral degrees." The first is that it recognizes and acknowledges the work of an individual over the course of their lifetime. The second is that it honors a person's acomplishments in the hopes that this person will assist in working towards the fundraising efforts of the school.

Ben Affleck to Receive Honorary Doctorate Degree From Brown University | E! Online

Has Ben really changed the world in any seriously positive way? He's a mediocre actor who has made a bunch of mediocre movies. But, a lot of people might attend a high priced dinner in order to shake his hand. Dr. Ben. Mostly, it's about the benjamins.

 

Want to know why he is worthy?

Because he is Batman.

 

And why is Columbia Southern on the Oregon list?

 

I imagine the version above was released before Columbia Southern won DETC accreditation in 2001.

 

Whoops! Missed it! My eyes have a tendency to glaze over when I see a school is located in pre-crackdown Alabama. Yes- Jonathan is right, as always. This is the earliest version on the Wayback Machine, as I said - from 2000, one year before Columbia Southern got its DETC sprinkling of Holy Water.

My error. Sorry if my neglect made CSU look bad by association - it's not. And I didn't have time to peruse all umpteen versions of the list, for all the sins of the ODA.

Someone else can, if they really have a "thing" against those people in Eugene. :smile: They'll find stuff - I'm sure they will.

Johann

 

And I thought I was the only one who knew about the Wayback Machine. :smile:

 

The interwebs do not forget. Ever.

 

Oh yes, they DO! Just try and find a complete list of Dr. Steve Levicoff's 75 NIFI (Name It and Frame It) criteria re: substandard schools. Dr. Steve himself had it expunged from the Net and CIA "cleaners" couldn't have done a better job!

Occasionally we get yet another request for this list - and I've never been able to find it. Only excerpts of the ancient manuscript survive on the Web, here and there in tattered cyber-fragments. I remember combing Geocities and Angelfire pages.... for hours.

It's difficult to follow in the 18 tire-tracks of the Master, wherever his rig may roll... :smile:

Johann

 

I learned about it from this forum, years ago, when I first got here. There are 98 threads that refer to it, so there must be a bunch of us that know, by now. :smile:

Johann