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Patrick Henry College, or PHC, is an unaccredited private Christian Protestant college that focuses on teaching classical liberal arts and government, located in Purcellville, Virginia. It is the first college in America founded specifically for Christian home-schooled students.

History

The school was incorporated in 1998 by Michael Farris, founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association. It officially opened September 20, 2000, with a class of 90 students.

The school has been a magnet for media attention from its inception, attracting reports from every major network and cable news organization, and being the subject of articles in Time Magazine, The Economist, the New York Times, and others. Initially the interest seemed to stem from the fact that the college, which was founded by the Homeschool Legal Defense Association and deliberately sought students with homeschooled backgrounds, represented a "coming-of-age" for the homeschooling movement at large. As time went on, it also attracted notice because of a perceived closeness with the Bush administration, which had given the school's students a number of White House internships and opportunities. In the spring of 2004, of the almost 100 student interns working in the White House, seven were from Patrick Henry College, which had 240 students at the time.

The school is actively seeking accreditation with the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, but suffered a setback in the spring of 2002 when it was refused accreditation by the American Academy for Liberal Education because of its requirement that faculty sign agreements affirming that they adhere to and will teach in favor of creationist beliefs. Likewise, it was denied accreditation in 2004 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the principal accreditation institution for the Southeast. PHC is currently in candidacy for accreditation by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, an accreditation association that exclusively accredits evangelical Christian schools.

On June 30, 2005, the school was officially recognized by the United States Department of Education as an eligible institution, allowing parents and students to take advantage of numerous tax benefits.

In March of 2006, four members of the college's faculty -- Assistant Professor of Classics David C. Noe, Assistant Professor of History and Literature J. Kevin Culberson, Chairman of the Department of Government Robert Stacey and Instructor of Government Erik S. Root -- announced their resignation due to complaints over a lack of academic freedom at the school. The debate came to a head after Noe and Culberson wrote a March 8 article in Source Magazine, a school publication, entitled, "The Role of General Revelation in Education" arguing that truth could be gleaned from sources outside the Bible. The school's chaplain, Raymond Bouchoc, responded with an e-mail to the entire student body endorsed by Farris arguing that certain claims made in the article had harmful implications and minimized the role of the Bible in education. The professors accused the school's administration of stifling debate in the classroom, while Farris claimed the professors weren't completely committed to the school's Biblical Worldview.

Farris announced his resignation as president of the college on March 6, 2006, to take on a new role as Chancellor of the college. Graham Walker, formerly of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, was named the new president April 3. Farris' resignation will take effect once Dr. Walker assumes the role and responsibilities of president, which will occur no later than July 1.

In April, the college named author and educator Dr. Gene Edward Veith as Academic Dean by the Board of Trustees. Presently the Cultural Editor of WORLD Magazine, Veith will begin his new position on July 1, 2006.

Religious affirmations

Students are required to sign a statement of faith before they arrive, confirming, among other things, that "Satan exists as a personal, malevolent being who acts as tempter and accuser, for whom Hell, the place of eternal punishment, was prepared, where all who die outside of Christ shall be confined in conscious torment for eternity," and that "Christ's death provides substitutionary atonement for our sins." The college is non-denominational.

All teaching faculty must also sign a statement of faith and "Biblical Worldview" stating that they share a belief that the Bible and its account of a six day creation is literally true. The college claims to provide a full exposition of the claims of both evolution and creation, though it favors the latter, which the administration contends is "both biblically true and as the best fit to observed data".

Academics

Students at the school can specialize within one of two tracks of study: Government or Classical Liberal Arts.

The Government department offers majors in Public Policy, Political Theory, Strategic Intelligence, and Journalism, while Classical Liberal Arts department offers degrees in Classical Liberal Arts Education, History, and Literature.

The Government department's Public Policy degree was the first one offered by the college, and is still largely seen as its "flagship" program, with close connections to the George W. Bush administration, Washington, DC Republicans, and conservative think tanks and organizations.

Core curriculum

All majors require 75 credit hours of core curriculum. Included courses are titled:

Constitutional Law (3)

Economics for the Citizen (3)

Euclidean Geometry (3)

Foreign Language (12)

Freedom's Foundations I, II (6)

History of the U.S. I, II (6)

History of the Western World I, II (6)

Logic (3)

Music History and Appreciation (3)

Philosophy (3)

Principles of Biblical Reasoning (3)

Research & Writing (1)

Rhetoric (3)

Science (Physics and Biology w/Lab) (8)

Theology of the Bible I, II (6)

Western Literature I, II (6)

The school offers 7 courses (21 credit hours) in Biblical Studies, 5 courses (33) in Classical Liberal Arts, 15 courses (43) in Classical Languages & Literature, 4 courses (12) in Economics, 19 courses (51) in Government, 23 courses (74) in History, 7 courses (15) in Strategic Intelligence, 6 courses (12) in Journalism, 24 courses (79) in Literature, 3 courses (9) in Mathematics, 5 courses (8) in Music, 6 courses (18) in Philosophy, 5 courses (14) in Science, and 4 courses (12) in Spanish.

Distance Learning

Patrick Henry offers many of its core classes online, utilizing ANGEL technology. ANGEL is an online program which hosts chats, forums, uploads and email for students. This website enables students to participate in a class with other students from their own home. Tuition for the program is less than on campus.

Debate

Debate is one of Patrick Henry College's longest standing and best-known extracurricular activities. The college is active in the National Educational Debate Association (NEDA) and the National Parliamentary Debate Association, where students have won many of the top awards at tournaments around the country.

Students also compete in the American Collegiate Moot Court Association (ACMA), where they carried away four of the top honors at the ACMA 2005 National Tournament, including Winning Team and 1st Place Orator. Moot court is a form of debate competition designed to simulate appellate court proceedings. Teams of two students function as co-counsels and stand before a panel of judges to argue one side of a legal matter. Then, in later rounds, the same teams defend the opposite position.

Student life

The Student Life Department is presided over by Vice President for Student Life, Gary Mason. The college has many rules of behavior typical of conservative, religious colleges. Students may not show public displays of affection in college buildings and must agree to seek parental consent from both families before dating. Students may not use alcohol or tobacco while under the authority of the college, which generally means during a semester while enrolled. Men and women are not allowed in each others' dorm rooms.

As at many other Christian colleges, dancing is not allowed on campus, but students hold several school dances off-campus, including the annual Liberty Ball, which takes place every spring at historic Raspberry Plains. The first dance, held during PHC's inaugural year on the anniversary of Patrick Henry's famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech of March 23 1775, was organized by a parent and has since been assumed by student coordinators. The annual fall Hoedown is another popular event.

Students are active in multiple campus clubs including College Republicans, Eden Troupe, which produces regular stage dramas, the Streaming Media Network, which produces films, and several philosophical and literary societies.

Athletics

PHC has intercollegiate teams in men's and women's soccer and basketball. Students also participate in various intramural sports including softball, volleyball and ultimate disc.

Traditions

• Bobtisms (name refers to dunkings in a retention pond located in the center of the campus, nicknamed "Lake Bob" by students)
• Liberty Ball
• Hoedown

Statistics

Classes began in 2000 with 92 students, and has since grown to approximately 325 students.

As of 2005, most students are white, with about a dozen Asians and Latinos. There are currently no African-American students.

See also

• List of unaccredited institutions of higher learning
• School accreditation

References

1. Patrick Henry College's Michael Farris Fresh Air from WHYY, May 24, 2006
2. PHC Statement of Faith
3. PHC Statement of Biblical Worldview
4. PHC Statement of Biblical Worldview
5. God and Country A college that trains young Christians to be politicians. Hanna Rosin, The New Yorker. June 20, 2005

External links

• Patrick Henry College Official Website
• Education America's Christian Right - An article by BBC on the college.
• College for the Homeschooled is Shaping Leaders for the Right - New York Times article.
• God and Country - New Yorker article.
• The Bible College That Leads to the White House
• Divide on Doctrine Fuels Fight Between Va. College, Ousted Clerk - Washington Post article.
• PHC College Republicans
• PHC Streaming Media Network
• SaveRoot.com - A website run by PHC students to "demand answers" regarding the 2006 resignations of school faculty.
• 5 Departures on Patrick Henry Faculty Pose Question: Are Christianity and Liberal Arts Contradictory Missions? - May 12, 2006 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

• Universities and colleges in Virginia
• Christian universities and colleges
• Unaccredited institutions of higher learning