I wonder if anyone could help me get a bead on Donsbach University. I only found one reference to the school on Google's groups pages, but just gossip. I have been asked to check the credentials of an administrator of a private school in California, who graduated from Donsbach University in the early 80's. I can't tell if Donsbach used to exist, or still exists with a new name. BPPVE couldn't find it on their database; it could have either changed names or just be older than dirt. Quackwatch.com has plenty to say about Kurt Donsbach,who runs a cancer therapy hospital in Mexico when he's not in jail. Was he the founder? Was this a legitimate school when the administrator graduated? Thanks, folks. I know ancient DE history isn't everybody's favorite topic.
If you do a google search with "Donsbach University" as the search terms (include the quotations), you'll get many pages of hits. From my brief look, it does appear Kurt was the founder of the school. Bruce
Near as I can tell, yes. These URLs might be of help: http://www.geocities.com/cfsdays/big-ad.htm see last paragraph: http://skepdic.com/refuge/essyours.html If its founder's activities are any indication, probably not -- but unfortunately, I don't have anything else to go on. Bears' Guide (14th edition, p. 330) says that they were once California-approved, but I think this was before California toughened its laws. My favorite topic of the moment is the appointment of Avery Dulles, S.J. to Cardinal. His "Apologetics and the Biblical Christ" (now out of print) is probably the single best work of Roman Catholic biblical apologetics I've ever read, and I have to sheepishly admit that I didn't know that the man (now in his early 80s) was still alive. Very welcome news, indeed. But, er, that has nothing to do with the topic at hand, and to return to it: I'd be very wary of any Donsbach University, indeed. Peace, Tom
Donsbach University was a mail-order school operated by Kurt Donsbach, D.C., who also runs a less-than-reputable Mexican cancer clinic. As far as I know, it's focus was nutrition and holistic health. I am not even sure that Donsbach himself holds a legitimate D.C. credential. He has written a bunch of booklets on treatment of various diseases that essentially hawk his various hydrogen peroxide and mineral potions. Donsbach was also under investigation by the FBI for a number of years for various unsavory practices associated with his various businesses, including the hospital, supplement business, and school. The school was never accredited, and while some students definitely did some work, the school is probably in the same class as American Institute of Holistic Theology... minimal, non-rigorous coursework that goes into little or no clinical detail and is a joke compared to the legitimate curriculum found at a school like Bastyr or National. Unless I am very much mistaken, I can't imagine a Donsbach degree qualifying someone for anything meaningful, and certainly not as administrator of a public school.
Yes, it is the same Kurt Donsbach. Dr. Donsbach was (is?) a chiropractic who opened his own university in California during the 1970s, when such a thing was easy to do. They operated at the "Authorized" level for as long as the law allowed. ("Authorized" meant they filed statements about their activities, and declared at least $50,000 in assets towards the school, but the state didn't evaluate their operations. Schools could, at that time, remain "Authorized indefinitely without ever having to rise to "Approved" or "Accredited" status.) When California eliminated the Authorized category, the school continued to operate under a gradfather clause. It changed its name to the International University for Nutritional Educaton and moved to a suburb of San Diego (Chula Vista, my hometown!). The school disappeared a few years ago and is no more. When I review materials from the school during the early '80s, they seemed quite comprehensive. But I was young and naive, and didn't know much about nutritional science. Since, I've read many things (including the Quackwatch stuff) about Dr. Donsbach's theories and practices on nutrition, but not much about the academic rigor (or lack thereof) of Donsbach U. An interesting note: Donsbach U. and the accredited Northrup U. flirted for awhile with co-developing a master's program in nutrition, with Donsbach doing the teaching and Northrup awarding the degrees. There were agreements in place, but it is not clear how far they got before they broke it up. I don't think Northrup actually awarded any degrees from this arrangement. I would treat a degree from such a school as comparable to others from "Authorized" schools from that era (like Century, Kennedy-Western, Golden State, and the University of Beverly Hills). Legal, but not much there. Hope this helps. Rich Douglas, Ph.D. (Candidate) Centro de Estudios Universitarios Monterrey, NL, Mexico P.S.: "Ancient DE history" is very much my favorite topic. It helps to have been there when it all went down.
