THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 4, 1994 TAG: 9408040620
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
The father of a candidate defeated in May's School Board elections is publicly challenging the right of a winning candidate to lay claim to the title of doctor.
George D. Hamar, father of unsuccessful candidate Michael B. Hamar, alleges that the doctoral degree held by board member Charles Vincent is not legitimate under California or Virginia law.
George Hamar further alleges that Vincent's degree was issued by a college run by a ``religious cult'' in California. Vincent was endorsed by the city teachers association, which mounted heavy opposition to Michael Hamar and some other candidates on the charge that they were backed by the religious right.
George Hamar this week asked the School Board and the assistant city attorney assigned to the board to stop allowing Vincent to use the title in board literature, meetings and other school-related forums.
Vincent said Hamar is just angry because his son lost the election.
``The bottom line is they're sore losers,'' Vincent said. ``They're trying to come up with this as a red herring issue that has nothing to do with making our community a better place to live.''
But George Hamar, who since May has conducted his own far-reaching investigation into Vincent's background, said, ``This is not sour grapes.
``I do not believe that the public school system is a place for recognition of a religious degree from a cult in California. I didn't say anything that the guy should resign.
``My issue with the board is that they should not recognize this degree.''
Assistant City Attorney John New-hard said, ``It's not an issue.''
State law has no degree requirements for School Board members.
Documents provided by Vincent show that he holds a doctorate of philosophy in counseling psychology issued in late June of last year from Harmony College of Applied Science, a school in Los Altos, Calif., that in its literature calls itself ``nontraditional.'' Vincent's transcript says he enrolled in early June of the same year.
The college's dean, Roy B. Oliver, said the school is part of a nonprofit religious organization called the Harmony of Life Fellowship Inc., and has been operating since 1957. Oliver said Vincent's degree required 240 credit hours of work, a thesis and a proficiency exam.
To George Hamar's claim that Harmony is not a legitimate school, Oliver said, ``He's wrong about that.
``This is a legitimate school. And Mr. Vincent's degree is valid.''
Harmony, however, has had some legal difficulties with the state of California.
Lee Stallings, a program administrator for California's Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education, said the school is currently registered under the state's religious exemptions law, which allows religious schools to issue religious degrees that are free from state regulation or accreditation requirements. But Harmony must issue its degrees under the name Harmony of Life Fellowship, Stallings said, because state law bars exempt schools from issuing degrees that are secular or appear to be secular.
Stallings said the state threatened to sue Harmony College of Applied Science when it was issuing degrees under that name. Stallings said his department did not pursue the lawsuit because Harmony agreed to stop issuing those degrees and change its name.
Vincent's degree, however, was later issued by Harmony College of Applied Science.
Either way, Harmony is not listed as being accredited by an agency approved by the U.S. Department of Education.
The Virginia Department of Education does not recognize degrees for teacher licensure unless they are listed by the U.S. Department of Education as being accredited.
Vincent, 46, who holds a bachelor's degree from the University of West Florida and a master's degree from Florida Atlantic University and did some of the coursework for his doctoral work with Florida Atlantic, University of North Florida and Michigan State University, admits that his 1993 doctoral degree is not traditional.
``I didn't need the Harmony degree to get a job, to maintain a job,'' he said. ``I did it simply because I enjoy setting goals and achieving those goals.''
Vincent said he spent five years on a dissertation about alcoholism. His transcript only shows three weeks of work, he said, because that's when he applied to finish up the program. He said he did not know it was a religious school then.
``I didn't really know all the particulars, except that it was authorized by the state of California,'' Vincent said. ``That was good enough for me.''
Vincent said that with seven kids and a full-time job working with adult education for the U.S. Army at Fort Story, he had no time to work on a degree at a traditional college.
``What worked for me with Harmony College is that I was able to fulfill my family responsibilities and I was able to continue in my job, and I was able to pursue knowledge in an area that I was interested in. What matters is that I acquired the knowledge.''
Representatives from the Virginia Beach Education Association said they would still endorse him, even knowing the particulars of his degree.
``I think it would give me pause if someone was saying, `I'm more intelligent than anyone else because I have a doctorate,' '' said the association's Claudette Thomure. ``But that did not occur.''
``I think he's a darn decent, nice guy,'' said the association's James B. Chapman. ``And he's trying to help the students and the people of Virginia Beach. And this is what he gets for it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Charles Vincent, elected to the Virginia Beach School Board in May,
says of his detractors: ``The bottom line is they're sore losers.''
by CNB