Patrick Henry College hits milestone

Patrick Henry College hits milestone

Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia, was recently granted accreditation by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TACCS). The founder of the prestigious Christian college known for recruiting home-schooled students says the school remains committed to training "champions for God."

According to Chancellor Mike Farris, the rigorous TACCS accreditation process affirmed that Patrick Henry College is achieving its announced goals. He says he challenged students in chapel last week to be like the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.

"I expect our students to be leaders in government, law, journalism, in literature and education and other fields and [in] really turning this country around for Christ," Farris says, "because I've never viewed education as a goal in and of itself, but as a means to an end. And that end is a nation transformed by godly leadership."

Of course, Patrick Henry College is not going to be the only school striving to do this, Farris acknowledges. "But we want to be at the tip of the sword of those who are really fighting for what's right," he points out. And when Roe v. Wade is reversed, he observes, the college truly "will have achieved what it set out to achieve."

The Virginia school's chancellor says he has several lofty goals for Patrick Henry College in the next decade, including establishing a law school on campus with an emphasis on constitutional law. "There is no law school in the country that has the kind of focused study on the Constitution that we believe is needed," he notes.

Farris says the experience new Patrick Henry College president Graham Walker and provost Gene Veith have with the accreditation process was invaluable in helping the college achieve its new status. Now, the chancellor says the school hopes to expand in the areas of economics, business and other potential graduate programs, including offering a master's degree in strategic intelligence, in which it currently offers a bachelor's degree.