After a four-month search, the Board of Trustees of Life University has named Benjamin C. DeSpain, EdD to serve as the school's president on a permanent basis. Dr. DeSpain replaces Sid Williams, DC, the school's flamboyant founder and president, who resigned last year amid accreditation problems with Life's chiropractic program. Michael J. Schmidt, DC, had served as interim president at Life since July 2002.
The 63-year-old DeSpain holds a master's degree in education from Arkansas State University and a doctorate of education from the University of Memphis, with an emphasis in community college and higher educational administration. He began his career in education as a high-school principal in Virginia before serving as superintendent at progressively larger school districts throughout the South, including Arkansas, South Carolina, Louisiana and Kentucky.
For the past eight years, Dr. DeSpain has been involved with education and administration on the university level. Most recently, he served the past two years as dean of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Tennessee-Martin, a 6,000-student institution outside Memphis.
According to Charles Ribley, DC, chair of Life's Board of Trustees, Dr. DeSpain was chosen in part because of his experience and reputation for handling crisis situations.
"Ben has a proven record of problem-solving over his 30 years in education administration," remarked Dr. Ribley. "We're lucky to have his expertise on board at this crucial time in Life's history."
"I've been blessed with the demeanor and the skills to function at a higher level of efficiency in a crisis situation," DeSpain said. "The mission is to not only survive this crisis, but move on to bigger and better things in the future."
Dr. DeSpain said that his top priority will be to restore the accreditation of the university's chiropractic program. The Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) revoked the accreditation in June 2002, and denied Life's appeal in October. Once chiropractic accreditation has been restored, DeSpain intends to generate more interest in undergraduate programs at Life's School of Arts and Sciences.
"Chiropractic is the foundation of this university, and we will devote any and all resources necessary to restore our program's status," Dr. DeSpain said. "It will also benefit us long-term to entice undergrad students studying business or biology to enroll at Life."
Dr. DeSpain is the first non-chiropractor to serve as Life's president in the school's history, and the second non-DC to take over the reins of a chiropractic college in the past seven months. On May 24, 2002, Jerry Hardee, EdD, was inaugurated as president of Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic.
DeSpain's lack of chiropractic experience, Dr. Ribley said, was not an issue.
"He has a strong academic background. He has vision and energy. He's a problem-solver," Ribley explained. "Being the president of Life University doesn't require you to have a chiropractic background."
Dr. DeSpain's appointment comes at a time when serious questions have been raised about Life's educational and financial credibility. Since the CCE revoked the accreditation of Life's chiropractic program, approximately 2,000 students have dropped out or transferred to other schools. Several lawsuits have also been filed, including a potentially devastating class-action case initiated by Robert Hoffman, DC on behalf of 75 chiropractic students (Editor's note: See "Life May Face Class-Action Suit" in the December 16, 2002 issue, or visit www.chiroweb.com/archives/20/26/11.html
In addition, in November, Moody's Investors Services lowered Life's underlying bond rating and issued a negative outlook on the school's future, saying that "because of the severe enrollment declines, the financial viability of the university and its ability to service debt are in jeopardy." According to the Moody's report, as of September 30, 2002, Life's total debts amounted to some $33 million, with approximately $16 million in total cash and investments, and approximately $77 million in property.
