DAVENPORT, Iowa - The Palmer University Board of Trustees has passed a resolution to develop a plan for a Florida facility. The board has been working with city officials of Port Orange, Florida, a city of 50,000 just south of Daytona Beach on the Atlantic coast.
"This resolution signals that Palmer expects to be a presence in the southeastern portion of the United States, with benefit to prospective chiropractic students in that area and the growing segment of the public seeking chiropractic care," said Michael Crawford, chancellor of Palmer University.
Palmer has been exploring the possibilities in Port Orange for more than a year. Port Orange officials and area college representatives have had numerous meetings with Palmer officials, and both groups have sent delegations to visit their respective locations.
The Palmer announcement comes on the heels of Florida state legislation that has set aside $1 million to develop and implement a plan for a chiropractic school at Florida State University (FSU). (See "Chiropractic College Coming to Florida State University," DC, June 26, 2000.)
Port Orange officials have indicated that they're seeking a private educational institution, as apposed to a state tax-funded facility, as in the case of the planned chiropractic college at FSU. However, Mr. Crawford said that Palmer officials would be willing to consider some sort of partnership with the Florida state educational system, such as allowing in-state students to use vouchers for tuition at the Palmer facility.
"Our city is delighted to hear that we will be the future site of a new Palmer Chiropractic facility," said Port Orange Mayor Dorothy Hukill. "Having the Palmer Chiropractic University System choose Port Orange is a major step forward in realizing the city council's vision for economic development and higher education. We are looking forward to working side-by-side with Palmer to make this dream a reality."
Discussions between Palmer and Port Orange officials over the past year have included the possibility of developing a joint public-private relationship Palmer would locate a facility on property owned by Port Orange and lease the land from the city. Under that scenario, buildings would be constructed with private funds and leased back to the school.
Palmer officials have also had discussions with area colleges and universities about developing partnership agreements, including ways that faculty and courses could be jointly developed and shared. On Wednesday, October 11, 2000, Palmer will hold a joint meeting with administrators, faculty and students from at least three Volusia County area colleges: Daytona Beach Community College, Bethune Cookman College, and the University of Central Florida.
Palmer College of Chiropractic President Guy Riekeman, DC, will speak at that meeting on chiropractic philosophy, science and art. "Palmer Chiropractic is much more than our campuses in Davenport, Iowa, and San Jose, California. We are the founding college of chiropractic, the 'Fountainhead,' and an international enterprise with a powerful alumni organization with worldwide jurisdiction," noted Dr. Riekeman. "We've developed a creative, innovative chiropractic educational program in Brazil, the first of its kind in South America, which graduated its first class of chiropractors in April. We are eager to develop partnerships and forge alliances in chiropractic education to improve the health of Florida citizens."
"The partnership with Port Orange is an exciting new development for Palmer," an enthused Mr. Crawford said. "Our legacy of 100 years of chiropractic education, combined with our powerful international alumni network of 20,000 practicing chiropractors, means we would expect to attract students not just from Florida, but from a broad geographical area. Our goal is to have the plan completed and ready for presentation at the October 12-14 board of trustees' meeting."
About Port Orange: The area has an interesting history. It was originally inhabited by Seminole Indians. The first outside settlement was the building of the DunLawton Plantation in the early 1800s. The plantation, which processed sugar cane and cotton, was destroyed in battles with the Seminoles in the late 1830s, but was rebuilt in 1849.
In 1867, Dr. James Milton Hawks, an abolitionist credited with naming the area "Port Orange," established a settlement here of 1,600 freed slaves. The settlement failed and left the area sparsely populated. In 1913, when the town was incorporated, its population was only 380. People made their living by oystering, fishing, farming, producing citrus and boat building. In 1925, the town of Port Orange was incorporated as a city. By 1930, the population had grown to all of 678 residents, while its close northern neighbor, Daytona, grew rapidly. As late as 1970, the city's population was only 3,800, but the population has now grown to about 50,000.
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