By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

It's been nearly five years since I've written anything on TJEd. The enthusiasm for TJEd has died down a lot and although people may talk about "Leadership Education" periodically there's not much said anymore about TJEd itself.

I still contend that what I said years ago is still true: TJEd has nearly ruined homeschooling in Utah. The fact that so many people would vehemently argue such a flawed philosophy and approach was surprising and worrisome. I put forth my best arguments and stayed clear of personally attacking anyone or using material that wasn't publicly available and which came directly from publishings of Oliver DeMille. Time would then tell whether TJEd was really a revolution that would raise up leaders of the nation, or dwindle away.

George Wythe University has published an account of the misdeeds of Oliver DeMille and others in their roles as founders and administrators of the school. It's not pretty. Below are some excerpts (http://news.gw.edu/?p=393):

"The most grievous discovery was that Oliver DeMille had, during the previous governance under Coral Ridge, approved two doctoral degrees based primarily on experiential credit and without any coursework.  In addition, DeMille’s own credentials were called into question when critics investigating his past revealed two illegitimate degrees he had received in the early 1990s."
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"The first discovery was that incomplete and misleading statements and financial reports were being presented to the board by the administration. "
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"Particularly troubling were the discoveries that accounting practices were in disarray and that Brooks had consistently withheld information about contracts and finances regarding the Monticello campus he had proposed two years earlier."
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"As the board continued its investigation, a number of egregious actions were discovered that the board felt could potentially justify legal action."
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"Given the board’s discoveries with regard to DeMille in particular and his selective compromising of transcripts and degrees, the board’s new leadership faced a serious dilemma."
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"The board’s duty and commitment was to cleanse the school and its alumni of the checkered past of its founders.  Yet a delicate balance was required between timing the publicity of the founders’ misdeeds and allowing institutional strength to recover from the very damage they had inflicted."
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"Through this sheltered introduction, a loyalty to personalities had formed among thousands of people.  Given this, the board realized that many would not be able to distinguish the school from its founders."
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"It is the opinion of this board that the public should be safeguarded from the kind of mismanagement, deception and irresponsibility that the school previously suffered under DeMille and Brooks.  We condemn their actions in the strongest terms and without reservation. " 

These statements are from the official Newsroom of GWU. These are not accusations from outsiders.  I suggest you read the whole thing. There's a lot in there. One could argue that it doesn't mean the current Board of GWU is right, but it does mean that the Founder of TJEd has been found to be "deceptive," and having a "checkered past," and acting "egregiously." Not all the misdeeds were done by DeMille of course, but they were done by Board Members of GWU. If GWU isn't the most blatant example of TJEd in action or implementation of its principles, I don't know what is. And GWU is not some splinter group from the movement that is dissatisfied and broke off from DeMille. There is no group left of any size that still defends or implements TJEd like there was when this blog was started. None that I'm aware of.

Perhaps some will accuse me of kicking a man when he's down or jumping on the bandwagon of attacking DeMille. I'm bringing to light what the results of the founder of TJEd has been. These are the results. DeMille and his followers preached a better way and made a lot promises and arguments about the benefits and results of TJEd. It didn't happen, and it wasn't because they weren't allowed to fully implement their ideas. It broke apart all by itself.

The current GWU Board said something I totally agree with: "None of this had to happen." That's right, it didn't. Yet the damage done was widespread and long lasting. It will still take a few more years before Utah homeschooling recovers, and hopefully nothing as faulty comes in and takes the place of TJEd. But like the old saying goes, when the students are ready the teacher appears. We need people and parents who aren't so quick to adopt philosophies like TJEd. We need to not fall so easily to claims and promises. We need to not be so eager to accuse other people of persecution, or "conveyor belt" thinking, or denying people greatness, or squandering their destiny, or of being too stupid to understand. We need to be wiser than that.