August 19, 2004

Twyman spiritual center scrutinized

By Steve Zimmerman
Ashland Daily Tidings

A state degree accreditation official is looking hard at the possibility that a well-known Ashland man is running a diploma mill through a spiritual center, despite other state officials clearing the organization of any wrongdoing.

James Twyman's organization, "President of the Beloved Community and his Successors" has been the subject of state scrutiny over the past year from the Oregon Department of Justice and Oregon Student Assistance Commission.

While the Attorney General's office is not going to pursue any legal action at this time, the OSAC will forge ahead with its investigation, according to Alan Contreras, administrator of the Office of Degree Accreditation at the Oregon Student Assistance Commission.

"We received two different anonymous complaints about it," Contreras said. "One was a fairly extensive e-mail last December which resulted in us sending an investigation letter on Dec. 29 to this outfit."

The reason for the letter from Contreras was the fact that the Beloved Community was operating a degree-offering seminary called "Seminary of Spiritual Peacemaking."

"It is illegal to operate a degree-granting entity of any kind in Oregon without going through the state approval process," Contreras said. "There is no exemption for religious entities."

A diploma mill is an unaccredited school that issues degrees without requiring any student academic work or without requiring any college-level work.

But Marianne Wilson, spokesperson for Beloved Community, said the organization is disputing Contreras' allegations on two fronts.

"We have the paperwork and are filling it out to become accredited," she said. "But that is not something you can do in a few minutes or even overnight. The paperwork is about a half-inch thick. Plus, we were sent a sample by the accreditation office to help us fill out the paperwork properly."

Wilson said the organization's attorney argues that the Beloved Community meets the guidelines for religious exemptions. Despite their belief that they are exempt, they will continue to prepare their paperwork for accreditation.

Yet, Contreras plods on. He said a formal Cease and Desist letter is being readied to send to Beloved Community and the Financial Fraud office at the Attorney General's Office. The Beloved Community must respond immediately upon receiving the letter.

The organization has been recently cleared of fraud complaints by the Oregon Attorney General's office, according to spokeswoman Jan Margosian.

"We reviewed what Alan (Contreras) sent us and also Beloved Community's Web site and we do not believe the Web site contains statements that could be actionable under the Unlawful Trade Practices Act," she said. "On the Web site, it contains a disclaimer, that is hard to miss, that says the degrees are not accredited degrees."

A second investigation out of the AG's Charitable Activities Division is possible, but not likely, according to Victoria Cox, spokesperson for the Charitable Activities Division of the DOJ.

"We rarely get involved with religious organizations," she said.

Beloved Community responds

Wilson, spokesperson for Beloved Community, said the school responded to the concerns of Contreras and the AG's office quickly.

"We went back in and changed the Web site," she said. "We thought everything was fine. I haven't heard any more from anyone. We talked with our attorney and thought we had squared everything away."

The Attorney General's office has not made a determination about whether the Web site or degree offered by this organization violates statutes or rules governed by the Office of Degree Authorization. The ODA will make that determination.

Contreras said the biggest concern for his office is the possible sale of degrees by Beloved Community.

"They have no legal authority to issue degrees. They have no legal authority to issue academic credit for anything," he said. "Any degrees or credit they have issued is fraudulent and not valid. We will turn this over to DOJ in the near future. We are interested in protecting consumers who are getting degrees from this entity. The degrees it issues cannot legally be used as credentials in Oregon."

The OSAC has the authority to fine entities that violate statutes. That fine could be as high as $1,000. If violations are found, it is up to the seven-member commission to decide on penalties.