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Life West and Dr. Gerard Clum approach a silver 25th anniversary
By Jonathan Lance
he history of Life Chiropractic College West began almost 25 years ago. There
was no fanfare. There were no ceremonies. A series of quiet meetings were held.
A number of legal filings completed. Almost unnoticeably, Pacific States Chiropractic
College became Life Chiropractic College West. A half million dollars of funding
was put in place. New persons were appointed to the college’s governing
board. A new, young, president was named. Life Chiropractic College West was
born.
Today, as Life West approaches its silver anniversary, the college enjoys a
state-of-the-art educational and clinical facility. International recognition
has come to the college and Hayward, Calif. The college’s alumni are approaching
3,500. And, the over-ranked-in-age young president is the most senior chiropractic
college chief executive officer in the world, grayer, a good bit wiser and considerably
more prepared for the role of president!
“The college officially turns 25 in January 2006; this year we are in
our 25th year,” relates Life West President Dr. Gerard Clum, D.C. “This
is a milestone for the college and for me personally,” noted Dr. Clum,
“so we decided to make the most of it—celebrate our 25th year and
then our 25th anniversary year!”
The Challenges of the Early Years
January of 1981 found Dr. George Anderson of Hayward, Calif., the founder of
Pacific States Chiropractic College, wrestling with the demands of a dramatically
changing economic environment and expectations of the educational community
that were far removed from his life as a practicing chiropractor in northern
California. In response, he first sought the help of Clum, who then was a faculty
member and administrator at Life Chiropractic College in Marietta, Ga. The exchanges
between Anderson and Clum led to a partnership with Life Chiropractic College.
The dialogue was then taken up between Dr. Anderson and Dr. Sid E. Williams,
founder and president of Life Chiropractic College. In the end, several members
of the Board of Trustees of Life Chiropractic College were appointed to the
Board of Regents of Life Chiropractic College West, $500,000 in funding was
made available to the new California college, and Clum was elected president
by the Board of Regents.
“The first order of business was to stabilize the college financially,”
recalls Clum. This was primarily an issue of finance. “Keeping the wolf
away from the door was the first issue every day,” he remembers, shaking
his head with a degree of amazement. The challenges that followed involved the
California Board of Chiropractic Examiners, the Veteran’s Administration,
the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Chiropractic Education, the
Immigration and Naturalization Service, and a host of additional agencies, programs
and demands.
In March 1983, a little more than two years following the transition to Life
West, the college was awarded Recognized Candidate for Accreditation (RCA) status
by the Commission on Accreditation (COA) of the Council on Chiropractic Education
(CCE). This was an absolutely pivotal accomplishment for the young college.
With accreditation under their belt, the men and women of Life West began to
build, grow, refine and improve their emerging institution. This was also the
moment of opportunity that allowed Dr. Clum to begin to increase his role, visibility
and contribution to his local community as well as in the chiropractic profession.
The Emergence of a National Leader
Following the accreditation of Life West, Clum was invited to serve on the Board
of Directors of the CCE as well as the Association of Chiropractic Colleges
and the International Chiropractors Association. He served on the Board of Directors
of the CCE from 1983 through 1999 and then again from 2000 through 2004. He
served a term as an officer of the agency and as a member of the CCE Executive
Committee. Clum moved through the chairs of the Association of Chiropractic
Colleges, serving in every elected office of the association. His term as president
occurred during what has come to be known as the period of the “HEAL crisis.”
It was this crisis that set the stage for one of Dr. Clum’s greater contributions
to chiropractic education and to chiropractic students in general. “The
HEAL [Health Education Assistance Loan] program was the loan of last resort
for first-professional-degree students in the United States and, as a last resort,
the terms of the loans were horrific,” says Clum. “It was like placing
$10,000 a year on your MasterCard and deferring any payment for five years.”
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Thankfully, a private-sector
program was developed under Dr. Clum’s leadership that allowed for the
complete phase-out of chiropractic participation in the HEAL program. In addition,
the replacement program has resulted in some of the best student loan interest
rates in existence being available to chiropractic students through programs
sponsored by the Association of Chiropractic Colleges.
Life West continued to mature and in 1987 accreditation (as opposed to RCA status)
was awarded to the college for the first time in its history. The college’s
enrollment and influence continued to expand during these years. At the same
time, Clum was elected to vice-president of the ICA in 1987. In 1988 he was
appointed a representative of the ICA to the emerging World Federation of Chiropractic
(WFC). This representation continues to this day as a member of the Council
(board of directors) of the WFC representing North America/ICA. Clum has progressed
through the chairs of the WFC and he presently serves as the Federation’s
first vice-president.
In 1992, Dr. Clum’s contributions to the profession were recognized through
several major awards presented by various organizations, including “Chiropractor
of the Year” by the International Chiropractors Association.
The “Campus for the New Millennium”
The mid 1990s found the college continuing its growth while it expanded to additional
facilities in the Hayward, Calif. area. In 1991, Life West relocated and consolidated
its clinical facilities into the Hayward Professional Building, and in 1995
a 32,000-square-foot satellite campus was acquired in Hayward. While the additional
facilities were welcome, they were all about five miles from each other! On
some days faculty spent as much time traveling among the college’s three
campus sites as they did teaching.
The next logical step for the college was the acquisition of a single, multi-purpose
campus location that would provide for all of the programs and services of the
college. This effort began in 1996 with the initiation of a “facilities
plan” development process. In 1998 the plan was completed and the task
turned to finding property or buildings that would provide for the needs outlined
in the plan.
In 1999 a series of properties were considered. Toward the end of one afternoon
real estate scouting adventure, almost as an afterthought, the soon-to-be-vacated
corporate headquarters of the Mervyn’s Corporation was visited. It was
a near-perfect fit between the merchandising retailer’s old home and the
College’s facilities plan. A home had been found for Life Chiropractic
College West.
Fifteen months and $29 million later on July 5, 2000, the first patient was
welcomed at the health center on the developing campus of Life Chiropractic
College West. Later in July the college hosted over 1,300 faculty, staff, students,
friends, supporters and development partners to a noon-time campus dedication
program hosted by Clum. Three months later on October 2, 2000, the first classes
were held on the recently acquired campus.
“The development of our Hayward campus was the largest and most demanding
project I have ever participated in. It was poetry in motion—hard work,
superb cooperation, excellent planning and split-second timing of the execution
allowed this project to be realized,” remarks Clum.
In the days since the dedication of the campus the administrative team of the
college has continued its efforts to place Life West as a leader in the profession,
especially in terms of educational and clinical technology. For example, the
campus of Life West became the first chiropractic college campus to be 100 percent
Internet accessible on a wireless basis. Soon thereafter the college led the
way as the first chiropractic college to implement a conversion from film-based
radiography to computed radiography. The latest step forward involves the installation
of the first weight-bearing MRI system at an academic setting in North America.
This breakthrough technology is expected to be providing patient evaluations,
by this spring.
Over the years, Clum has participated in many community organizations and programs.
His favorite effort is the Family Emergency Shelter Coalition (FESCO) of Hayward.
His efforts have been recognized by the community, and he was honored in 2001
as the Business Person of the Year in Hayward. That same year, he was recognized
as the Volunteer Business Person of the Year.
“The Potential That is Stretched Out Before Us”
In looking back over the history of the college, Clum has expressed his pride
in “the thousands of graduates of the college who have moved to the corners
of the globe to provide chiropractic care to millions of people worldwide.”
One particular memory he reflected upon was “the miracle on B Street,
when we went before the city Planning Commission for the entitlements needed
to develop the campus. For three hours, people we have helped, people we befriended,
and the people we worked with came forward and told the city fathers why having
Life Chiropractic College West in Hayward was so very important to them. It
truly was a miraculous evening.”
“The way I look at the first 25 years is that we are just about to hit
our stride,” he says. “I am looking forward to great contributions
to the profession and to humankind from Life West in the days to come. Some
nights I lie in bed and get giddy over the potential that is stretched out before
us.”
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