Creationist “University” - Hovind's Alma Mater lol!!! Seriously

So where did you get your degree”
“At a small university. You probably haven’t heard of it”
“Oh really? Well, how small is it?”
“Um. About 50 feet wide by 75 feet long”

You may have heard of the “scientist” who has been pushing Intelligent Design “theory” for a while, Kent Hovind. Hovind has been one of the biggest supporters of the idea of Intelligent Design as a “science” and is known for operating Christian theme parks, television donation beg-a-thons and for promoting his claims that he has proven evolution wrong with his scientific research. Kent isn’t doing that at the moment however. He’s taking a break at the Edgefield US Federal Correction Institution until 2015, assuming he behaves himself, for tax evasion.

One thing worth noting: It’s actually somewhat rare in the United States to go to prison for simply not paying taxes. What the government really wants is you to pay up, so in most cases, the penalty leveled is restitution and possibly interest on unpaid taxes and fines. Generally, putting someone in prison isn’t really helpful to the tax man because it doesn’t allow the person to work and therefore pay their back taxes. Kent went to prison because he’s been pulling this crap since at least the early 1990’s and has also done some things to hide his assets. So, the whole “I’m sorry I don’t keep good records and my account didn’t tell me so please just let me pay the back taxes and this won’t happen again.” line has pretty much worn out it’s effectiveness on sympathetic judges.

But getting back to the topic I started out with…

Kent Hovind, or as he prefers to call himself “Doctor Kent Hovind Ph.D.” got his education at Patriot Bible University. Patriot claims to be a Christian university which specializes in Bible study courses and theology and also various science courses. The sceince courses, of course, are not religious but actual fact-based scientific pursuits.. It just so happens to be at a Christian school, but that’s no big deal because after all, Notra Dame is a Catholic university and nobody seems to claim their physics or chemistry department isn’t legit, right? sure…..

Well, as it turns out Patriot Bible University is primary an independent study and distance learning institution. There’s not really anything wrong with that, considering that such programs have proven their worth in providing a solid eduction to working adults or those who can’t travel through a combination of online courses, video lectures and supervised exams at local institutions. But, Patriot University is not actually accredited as a degree-granting university.

Actually, it’s not even recognized as a valid institution by any major educational body. It can’t even grant any kind of industry-recognized certification. That would tend to put it on the bottom of the heap in terms of “diploma mills,” most of them at least do a better job at pretending to be real.

They do however claim to be “Christian Accredited” which I guess means that Christ gave them the thumbs up. So if you call them into question, you’re actually assaulting the word of the risen lord and you’ll be turned into stone or get cudies and smell bad or something bad like that.

The “university” claims to have an annual graduating “class” of between 50 and 100, but of course, it is a small establishment which is committed to specialized areas of education and research. How small? Well, it can’t be that small, because the university president apparently lives on campus, as her private residence is actually the same address as the school. The photo below however proves that it was big enough for them to have the funds and space to erect a church-looking kinda thing on the side of it. It’s only two-dimensional, but who’s counting, right?




























They do however have something of a parking lot (complete with trap rock grit to keep the dust from kicking up too much) and a concrete wheelchair ramp and stairs and such. They even have a commercial-grade streetlamp. So, that’s got to count for something. Oh and there’s a dumpster too, which coincidentally is a good place to put one of their degrees.











If you’d care to check it out you can always hit up Google Earth or Google Maps. The measurement tool puts the place at about 75 feet wide by about 50 feet deep, but that tool’s not always accurate so it might be as wide as 80 feet in reality.

The Address is:
Patriot Bible University
1135 French St.
Del Norte CO 81132

You can also find more info and get some more pictures here.
It’s on a lovely secluded road not far from a couple of trailer parks and a small housing development. There’s also a gas station just a little ways up the street! Apparently campus life and the university community are really hopping! The only problem is that apparently the University is under attack by the same forces that defamed poor Kent and oppose teaching of “the truth.” But they school assures us that they will prevail!

So there you go. If you want a degree and don’t want to actually learn anything this place might be the place to go. I remember being told a while ago that “too many students are just concerned with the reputation of a school and not with whether or not it’s the proper fit for them.” That might be a good statement in this case. Because if reputation means nothing to you and you’re an outright liar and federal convict, this school is a perfect match!

This blog was reposted from Depleted Cranium's blog.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008