Mar. 2003— With the recent accreditation troubles of Life University, Chiropractic Economics sat down with its new president, Ben DeSpain, to find out his views and where he envisions the college going in the next few years.

DeSpain’s background is not chiropractic. He has a degree in history and has been involved in the public school system for a number of years, both as a teacher and an administrator. “At this point I have a contract in-hand for five years,” said DeSpain. “I do expect that what I see happening now and the vision that I see unfolding before us, it’ll take us five years to do the things that I want to see us achieve and that will put me at a point in my career where I will have multiple options whether to retire, to go forward with a career in a leadership position or to return to my first love which is teaching and writing.”

DeSpain plans to expand the Life curriculum beyond chiropractic as well as promote the other programs they currently offer, including a sports management and/or a sports marketing program, healthcare, leadership and entrepreneurship. His ultimate goal is to have no more than 50 percent of the student body in a single program. His plan is to have four to six programs, each with about equal strength and student population. He would also like to see more of a mix of undergraduate and graduate programs, and to increase the recognition of the quality of the chiropractic program the college offers.

“We will do a great deal of reviewing as to where we are. We will do more expanding of programs outside the chiropractic arena. We will pump up our efforts to attract students to other programs which are well-received, outstanding programs … We can be much, much, much more inviting and accommodating of [part-time students’] regular day schedules. That is just one of the many options that exist for us to put some emphasis and effort into developing,” DeSpain commented.

The recent reaccredidation the College of Chiropractic was announced in early February. The news has allowed students who satisfied their requirements but could not graduate to receive their diplomas, sit for national board exams and apply for state licensure. Life had filed an injunction as part of a lawsuit alleging that CCE acted unfairly in revoking their accreditation. The lawsuit seeks the restoration of accreditation and damages from the accrediting agency.

“We are delighted to receive injunctive relief and look forward to a return to normal life,” said DeSpain. “We are confident in our legal arguments and believe the injunction will be upheld in throughout the appellate process.”