By Professor Doom
Accreditation is
mostly a slam dunk, and once you have it, the student loan scam provides such
an abundance of funds that you generally keep it.
That said, a
school can lose accreditation. It’s rare, mind you, but I can’t help but notice
a school can’t lose accreditation due to lack of academic integrity (hi UNC,
though you’re not alone), lack of moral integrity (hi Penn State, also not
alone), or lack of anything relating to education, really.
There are only
two ways a school can lose accreditation: lack of extremely expensive
administrators, or lack of a way to pay those administrators. In theory, a
school could lose accreditation by not paying the accreditation fees…but this
is the only accreditation rule I’ve never seen a school break, for some reason
(hi student loans!).
Bennett College is
what’s known as an HBCU (historically black college or university), and a
particularly special one, since, “historically,” it only caters to females, the
first of its kind when it became such in 1926 (though the school itself dates
back to 1878). It is funny that we have to use the word “historically” when
discussing this and similar schools; I doubt I’ll ever see a school try to push
being “historically” white male, though many schools would honestly fit that
description. I’m not advocating this should happen, mind you…but I think I
catch a whiff of hypocrisy here.
Anyway, the school
is running out of money. The accreditor has been very kind to give them 2
years’ probation. To put this in context, this same accreditor, in response to
UNC’s 20 year scheme of academic fraud which they demonstrably worked to cover
up, got a 1
year probation; the takeaway here is clear, that the accreditor cares much
less for education than money.
To their credit,
the school has improved their finances:
Bennett plans to reach
out to donors in an attempt to improve its financial picture before the
February hearing. Donors have already given generously, allowing the college to
beat a $4 million fund-raising target set last year with $4.2 million
in gifts and pledges.
The college's operating
results had improved as well, with leaders reporting a surplus of $461,000 last
year after a $1.1 million deficit for 2016-17.
Wow, a surplus of
$461,000, not bad for a small school, but not enough. That’s a tiny pittance by
most university standards. I find it fascinating that our Poo-Bahs bleat and
bleat about how important diversity is, how necessary it is to support females
in all ways…and yet none of those Poo-Bahs has seen fit to simply shower this
school with money. If your typical large school has half a
billion to pay in settlements for covering up yet another major sex crime
conspiracy (note: not linking to Penn State), or can siphon
over $175 million without anyone noticing any budgetary problems, then most
any Poo-Bah could casually bail this school out without even cutting into
administrative bonuses.
Well, if any
Poo-Bah believed the words coming out of his mouth this would happen.
But, that’s not
going to happen, and so the school is on the chopping block for total
annihilation. I feel the need to emphasize, while most people think
accreditation legitimizes the education at a school, such thoughts are rubbish.
It’s about the money, and nothing else:
The college, which has undertaken significant
cost-cutting and fund-raising efforts in an attempt to shore up its financial
position, is appealing the decision. Its president, Phyllis Worthy
Dawkins, toldthe News &
Record she plans to make the college's case at a Feb. 18
hearing.
I sure wish her luck, but if she really
wants that school to survive, she should bring checks to the accreditors. It’s
all that matters.
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