Officials Hopeful Paul Quinn Accreditation Will Stand

Paul Quinn president fighting for Dallas college

By LINDA STEWART BALL

Updated 8:45 AM CST, Sat, Jun 27, 2009

Print Email Share TWITTER FACEBOOK

With its accreditation in serious jeopardy, the president of Paul Quinn College said Friday that it's too soon to write off the oldest historically black college in Texas.

"It is not the time to write Paul Quinn's obituary," President Michael J. Sorrell said. "It's not time for anything other than to keep working hard and keep believing in Paul Quinn College."

The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools voted Thursday to drop Paul Quinn's membership from the accrediting agency.

The action will strip the liberal arts college in Dallas of its accreditation. Colleges can't award degrees without accreditation in Texas and students at unaccredited schools can't receive federal or state financial aid.

Sorrell, hired in 2007 and the school's fifth leader since 2001, said Paul Quinn is appealing but he's confident the college will prevail.

During his tenure the college has made tremendous strides, supporters said.

"The school has done everything that was asked of them," Paul Quinn trustee Erma C. Johnson Hadley said. "I was hoping they (the accrediting agency) would look at what has been done in the last two years and go forward from there. I was very surprised."

The commission placed Paul Quinn on probation two years ago, saying the college failed to comply with 23 standards.

Under Sorrell's leadership, the college was able to whittle those concerns down to three: financial stability, financial resources, and institutional effectiveness. The latter dealt with student outcomes.

"They've made a great deal of progress, but the federal government said that they've got to come into full compliance within two years," said Belle S. Wheelan, the Commission on Colleges president. "The problem is they ran out of time."

Wheelan said the accreditation would stand until after the appeal is heard sometime in mid-August.

Paul Quinn has been on and off sanctions for a very long time, Wheelan said, citing a warning the commission gave the college back in 1989.

Before Sorrell's arrival, Paul Quinn's buildings were in disrepair, enrollment was down and the endowment had dipped to less than $5 million.

Sorrell immediately worked to change the school's image. He implemented a business-casual dress code for students, made class attendance mandatory and even cut the Tigers' football program, a move that saved $600,000 a year.

Sorrell said admission applications were up and that student retention had increased by 50 percent. In addition, donations jumped 90 percent in the last two years and the college has received $500,000 in donations in the past two months.

About 440 students are enrolled at the school -- one of eight historically black colleges in Texas.

"We've come a long way from where we were two years ago," said Francis Hood, 23, a senior from Arkansas. "I feel like we can pull through."

But Paul Quinn senior Dereck Fuller, a biology major from Lancaster strapped with $20,000 in student loans, wasn't as upbeat.

"It's just money I've thrown away," Fuller said.