The troubled university is conducting a variety of fund-raising efforts to help pay the approximately $325,000 price tag for the display of 2 million lights.

For the past several weeks Roger Kaiser, Life's former athletic director, has been overseeing a telephone fund-raising campaign.

On Oct. 22, the Frog Golf Club, located in Villa Rica, will host the first Lights of Life Golf Classic, a fund-raiser also aimed at helping to cover the bills.

"We're calling on different people and companies in Atlanta and Marietta to help us this year," said Kaiser. "There's 750,000 to 800,000 people who see this display, and it's something we do for their appreciation, and we're just asking for some help with it."

Kaiser said two to three "major" sponsors have already been signed up thanks to the telephone fund-raising efforts.

He declined to name the companies or how much they donated. Several smaller sponsors have also been found, he said.

Life University, the nation's largest chiropractic school, was forced to make budget cuts this summer after losing its accreditation from the Council on Chiropractic Education. The school has appealed the council's decision.

So far, Kaiser says, fund-raising efforts have brought in donations totaling about half of the light display's cost.