COBB	THURSDAY • June 13, 2002

University casts tall shadow in community
Area would miss ties if ruling closed Life
Michael Kolber - Staff
Thursday, June 13, 2002
 

Life University's charismatic founder and president, Sid Williams, started teaching chiropractic in 1974 to 22 students in a rented space. Since then, the school has expanded its Marietta campus to more than a dozen buildings and more than 3,000 students, graduating more than twice as many chiropractic students each year as its nearest competitor. Acceptance of chiropractic has grown, and clinics have flourished throughout the nation.

Along the way to becoming a major force in the chiropractic field, the school also has become a significant institution in Cobb County. But all its gains of the past three decades were threatened this week by the Council on Chiropractic Education's decision to revoke Life's accreditation, based in part on inadequacies in teaching students to recognize when patient care could best be provided by a medical doctor.

Though Life is appealing the decision, loss of accreditation could be disastrous to the school, since students cannot take the licensing exams required to become chiropractors without the council's seal of approval. And university officials acknowledged that despite an effort to diversify into other fields in recent years, Life remains primarily a chiropractic school, and losing its accreditation in that field would cripple all its programs.

Cobb County residents have come to rely on the university's community programs --- from its maintenance of jogging trails near its campus to its annual Christmas light display --- and its presence would be missed. Marietta Mayor Bill Dunaway said he frequently hired chiropractic students to serve as waiters in his restaurant, the 1848 House, which closes this weekend. "It's nice to have eager, well-educated servers," Dunaway said.

Dunaway said the community has made great use of the facilities Life has opened to the public. The city has organized track meets on the university's campus, and school groups often visit its replica 19th century village. "I hope they are able to keep their accreditation, both for the sake of their own students and the community," Dunaway said. But local officials said they might be able to compensate for the loss of many of Life's civic contributions. The university's top-quality athletic facilities and varied community programs reflect the quixotic interests of Williams, a former star defensive end at Georgia Tech.

This August, the university will sponsor its 19th annual Run for Life, a charitable 10K road race through Marietta's streets. In past years, the race has started at Glover Park, but this year it will begin and end on Life's campus. In 1991, Life began working with the Marietta Department of Parks and Recreation to build and maintain five miles of jogging trails through Burruss and Wildwood parks, as well as the Life campus, which connects the two parks.

Richard Buss, the city recreation director, said his department could pick up the slack if the university no longer could meet its obligations regarding the trails, which have become a popular Marietta site. When the trails were closed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks --- the military was concerned the trails' location could provide saboteurs access to Dobbins Air Reserve Base --- Buss said he received numerous complaints from residents eager to return to the trails.

Each year an estimated 1 million visitors view the university's "Lights of Life" Christmas display. The display, featuring more than 2 million bright, blinking and sometimes moving lights, grows each year. "It's pretty tremendous," Buss said. "The community looks forward to the tree-lighting program every year."