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| Oren Paris II founded the tiny school that became a tiny college - Ecclesia College - in Springdale, Arkansas. Its accreditation is limited to a Bible group. |
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| The son of Oren II is Oren III, who is president of Ecclesia College. He has an undergraduate degree from EC and another bachelor's from the U. of Arkansas, nearby. He recently completed a D.Min. from Laurel Online University, so they call him Dr. Paris. His son is Oren IV. |
Inside Higher Education - Boards may hold off on terminating a president until guilt is proven, he said. But it’s often best for everyone if presidents take a leave of absence, at the very least.
“Some boards are more strict about this than others,” Chabotar said. “I just think best practice is if somebody is indicted, they’re put on a leave of absence.”
Ecclesia is also rare in that it does not report its financials publicly and it is closely related to a single family. That can raise questions about institutional oversight.
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| Oren II died in 2012, but his widow Inez remains on the board and on the Ecclesia College payroll. |
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| Angie Paris Snyder is Oren III's sister. Angie and her husband run the online version of Ecclesia College. Angie has an undergraduate degree from...Ecclesia College. |
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| Twila Paris, Oren III's sister, is famous for her Evangelical singing career. She runs the Ecclesia Prep program for small children, one of those group home-schooling coops. |
Not pictured - Starla Paris Novak is another one of Oren III's sisters. Her husband Mike has many roles, especially raising money. He has a bachelor's degree from Liberty University and is listed on the faculty of Ecclesia College.
Inside Higher Education -
Paris issued a statement Jan. 5 after Neal’s guilty plea stating that no one associated with Ecclesia College had provided money to legislators.
“We have never been a party to any agreements to funnel money to any state Legislature,” the statement said. “At the end of the day, I am secure in the knowledge that there has been no wrongdoing either on my part or the school’s part, and any rumors, innuendo or any future news reports that say otherwise are simply untruthful.”
But the indictment clearly names Paris. It notes that he received more than $300,000 in compensation from the nonprofit corporation that operates the college located in Springdale between June 1, 2012, and May 31, 2016, and that his family members and their spouses have received more than $1 million in compensation from it during that same time period. The kickback scheme’s purpose was for Paris to enrich himself, his family and the college by paying bribes to Woods and Neal through Shelton in exchange for the legislators securing money for the college, according to the indictment.
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| It's good that Inez supports her son, Oren III, but how many colleges are controlled by an entire family, not one of them qualified to teach college or manage higher education, unless one counts Oren's recent online D.Min. |
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| Cari Paris, married to Oren III, as pictgured on LinkedIn. She is also on the faculty list of Ecclesia College, with a bachelor's degree from Evangel College. |