The Institute of Creation Research, whose proposal to teach a master’s program in creationist thought was rejected Thursday by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, has issued the following press release:
Dallas, April 25, 2008 – Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) Commissioner Raymund Paredes on Wednesday recommended that the Institute for Creation Research Graduate School (ICRGS) be denied a Certificate of Authority to grant degrees in the state. On Thursday, the Board voted unanimously to accept Paredes’ recommendation.
Paredes issued his recommendation, prepared in advance of Wednesday’s meeting, despite the approval of both the THECB Site Team, which evaluated the ICRGS in November 2007, and the THECB Advisory Committee that affirmed the Site Team’s approval in December 2007. He rejected both reports as “flawed” and instead convened a separate panel of scientists and science educators that advised him not to approve the ICRGS application. ICRGS scientists and faculty were not included in or allowed to respond to this panel.
On Thursday, Joe Stafford, Assistant Commissioner for Academic Affairs and Research, read into record a Texas Education Code statute about preventing public deception in the face of “fraudulent” or “substandard” college and university degrees. ICRGS representatives present at the meeting were not allowed to respond to this mischaracterization of the graduate program.
The manner in which the hearing was conducted was characterized by viewpoint discrimination. Prior to Wednesday’s consideration of the ICRGS application, THECB committee chairperson Lyn Bracewell Phillips allowed public testimony for 30 minutes on the ICRGS application. Several political activists, including Steven Schafersman—who had evidently not reviewed the ICRGS application materials—launched ad hominem attacks against the credibility and reputation of the ICRGS and its faculty.
Critics have sought to draw false associations between the ICRGS program and alleged attempts to introduce religion into taxpayer-funded public schools, even though the ICRGS is a private postgraduate institution seeking to train science educators for private schools.
Questions have surfaced concerning the treatment of the ICRGS application by THECB officials and whether Commissioner Paredes and his agency altered the normal process of application review because of external pressures based on ideological biases against the ICRGS.
Under Texas law, the ICRGS may appeal the decision of the Commission or seek other remedies as appropriate.
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Lawrence E. Ford
Director of Communications
Institute for Creation Research
1806 Royal Lane
Dallas, Texas 75229
A Bible-based group’s proposal to prepare teachers in creationist thought was rejected Wednesday by a committee of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, a board spokeswoman said.
The final decision on the Institution for Creation Research’s application for certification of its master’s degree in science education will be made by the full board Thursday, board spokeswoman De Juana Lozada said.
The committee’s decision was based on a recommendation by Texas Commissioner of Higher Education Raymund Paredes. According to Paredes’ recommendation, the institute’s program is inconsistent with scientific convention and board rules that require that programs cover the breadth of the discipline taught. Consultants concluded that the program’s insistence in the literal interpretation of biblical creation gives insufficient coverage of conventional science, according to Paredes’ statement.
The institute’s Master of Science online degree program in science education teaches science from a creationist perspective, according to the institute’s Web site. The non-denominational group is founded on Christian principles.
Henry Morris III, chief executive officer of the Dallas-based institute, argued that the group teaches both evolution and creationism but favors the latter, according to a Dallas Morning News report of Wednesday’s hearing.
Students in the institute “receive a rigorous and thorough education in the sciences, in which they are exposed to standard naturalistic and evolutionary theories found in secular universities, with the additional benefit that they are also challenged with evidences of the supernatural intervention of the Creator,” according to the group’s Web site.
The institute filed for certification of its master’s degree in November, when a site evaluation team visited the campus. The team issued a report that was reviewed by an advisory council in December. The advisory council issued a non-binding recommendation in favor of the program, which was then scrutinized by Paredes. The Commissioner concluded that the review process had been flawed, as the site evaluation team members were not experts on science education and did not sufficiently address the program’s academic standards.
Paredes convened a group of science educators to offer an independent review of the institute’s proposal. After consulting with the group, Paredes issued a formal recommendation against the program. The process ends with the final decision by the nine-member coordinating board to accept, deny or amend Paredes’ recommendation.
If the board accepts Paredes’ recommendation, the institute has 45 days to file an appeal or 180 days to reapply for certification.
The Texas Education Code prohibits private higher education institutions from granting degrees without a Certificate of Authority issued by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The two-year certificate is a preliminary step for institutions seeking approval to grant degrees in Texas and depends on the institution receiving formal accreditation by a board-recognized accrediting agency.
The Institute for Creation Research will issue a press release Thursday following the board’s final decision, the institute’s managing editor Beth Mull wrote in an e-mail.
The death toll of Americans in the Iraq War has reached 4,000.
President Bush delivered a speech Monday addressing the family and friends of those that have died in the war.
“One day, people will look back at this moment in history and say, ‘Thank God there were courageous people willing to serve, because they laid the foundations for peace for generations to come,’ ” Bush told reporters after a meeting at the State Department.
The war is a major issue for the 2008 presidential campaign. With the death toll climbing higher, many Americans may vote for a candidate that promises to end the war.
In response to recent media reports on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s inflammatory remarks behind the pulpit, the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago issued a statement Saturday defending Wright, who became pastor of the church in 1972 and retired this year.
“It is an indictment on Dr. Wright’s ministerial legacy to present his global ministry within a 15- or 30-second sound bite,” said the Rev. Otis Moss III, pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ, in the statement.
In widely disseminated video clips of past sermons, Wright calls on blacks to condemn the United States for alleged racism and suggests government-sponsored terrorism led to the 9/11 attacks.
During his tenure as pastor of the church, Wright helped develop social welfare programs, including health care, a church library, prison ministries and scholarships, according to the statement.
In a separate statement Monday, the Rev. John H. Thomas, United Church of Christ general minister and president, criticized attacks against Wright. He said the intention of media personalities is to wound a presidential candidate and caricaturize a congregation.
“Are we to pretend all is well because much is, in fact, better than it used to be?” Thomas said in the statement. “Is it racist to name the racial divides that continue to afflict our nation, and to do so loudly?”
The Brite Divinity School, an independent institution located on the TCU campus, has recently come under fire for affirming its decision to honor Wright at a banquet March 29.
Calls to the Trinity United Church of Christ seeking comment on the award were not returned.
Chelsea Clinton arrived about a half hour late to a question-and-answer session about her mother’s policies today in the Student Center Lounge.
So far she’s taken questions from members of the TCU community on everything from health care to how her mother will aid the LGBT community.
She drew her first round of applause during the session when she said Sen. Hillary Clinton advocates eliminating the FAFSA.
Chelsea Clinton is scheduled to appear in the student center tomorrow at 10:15, said the campus coordinator for Hillary for President.
With the Texas Primary coming up this Tuesday, the entire Clinton family is making the rounds in Texas to campaign for Sen. Hillary Clinton.
President Bill Clinton and Chelsea were campaigning in Houston this Sunday morning and then headed to College Station for the afternoon.
A fire broke out in a stable on Angle street in the north end of Fort Worth. People at the scene said none of the livestock were hurt and there were no deaths.
Anyone who showed up early to presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s campaign stop Saturday probably saw a plume of black smoke on the horizon to the northwest.
A stable caught on fire about a mile away from the Stockyards where the Clinton rally was being held. The property owner got the animals out safely and the Fort Worth Fire Department had the fire knocked down in less than 20 minutes.
Photos by Andrew Chavez, editor-in-chief
Presidential hopeful and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee blew through the Stockyards for a brief media question-and-answer session today, drawing a crowd of about 300. The candidate arrived early and was rushed out just in time to allow the cattle drive to make its way through.
According to campaign staffers, though, the governor will be back in Dallas to watch the Texas primary results come in Tuesday and will likely make another campaign stop sometime before then in North Texas.
Photo by Andrew Chavez, editor-in-chief
Watch for these TCU students as you see news coverage come out of the Obama rally in Fort Worth on Friday. Some students from a TCU group that traveled to the event were right behind the stage in a prime spot to get their mugs on TV.
Photo by Andrew Chavez, editor-in-chief
The staff at the Daily Skiff blog on DailySkiff.com about campus news and sports.
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