I wish people who champion academic freedom would realize is that they do not believe in it absolutely
• Skeptics & Atheists
Patrick Henry College, the Purcellville-based Christian college founded two years ago primarily for formerly home-schooled students, has been denied accreditation by a national group because it requires professors to sign a statement of faith including that they will teach creationism.
The college of about 150 students, which will graduate its first class this month, is appealing the decision by the American Academy for Liberal Education, a private group approved by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit liberal arts colleges.
At issue is the school's Statement of Biblical Worldview, in which professors agree that all courses will be taught with the understanding that God created the world in six 24-hour days. In a letter, academy President Jeffrey D. Wallin told Patrick Henry that the statement conflicts with the requirement that "liberty of thought and freedom of speech are supported and protected, bound only by such rules of civility and order as to facilitate intellectual inquiry and the search for truth."
Patrick Henry President Michael P. Farris said: "It took us by total surprise. Apparently, there are some [AALE] board members whose views on diversity just simply do not allow them to believe that someone who believes in creationism should be in the big tent of academic freedom."