This is a short examination of creationist Kent Hovind's phony "Doctorate," and claims of being a "high school science teacher for 15 years." Between 1976 and 1989, Hovind was the "teacher" of unaccredited church schools he often started himself. Plus, he rarely lasted long even then. I am linking this from
"Big Daddy is Dead," in recognition that Hovind is essentially cited as a co-author of
"Big Daddy." and nearly all of the pseudoscience found there is referenced to Hovind's video "seminars."
Hovind opens his public presentations, videos, and weirdly, his bogus dissertation with nearly the same words every time,
"Hello, my name is Kent Hovind. I am a creation science evangelist. I live in Pensacola, Florida. I have been a high school science teacher since 1976." He added "I have a doctorate in Education," starting in 1991.
Kent Hovind's Teaching Experience
Recorded in Public Records 08/10/2005 at 1:30 PM OR Book Page 878, Instrument #2005406964, Ernie Less Magaha, Clerk of the Circuit Court Escambia County, FL.
"In 1972 I transferred to Midwestern Baptist College, in Pontiac, Michigan." Midwestern Baptist College is an unaccredited Bible school.
"I completed by (sic) Bachelor of Religious Education at Midwestern in 1974" Ordained by Emmanuel Baptist Church in Pontiac, Michigan, May 25, 1974.
Bethel Baptist Academy, Pekin, Illinios [1976-1978]
"I returned to Pekin, Illinois and became Assistant Pastor of Bethel Baptist Church. In 1976 the Pastor resigned and I was voted Pastor (Bethel Baptist Church). My first accomplishment as Pastor was to start a Christian school, Bethel Baptist Academy."
Faith Baptist Academy, Bourbonnais, Illinois [1978-1981]
"In 1978 my family and I moved to Bourbonais, Illinois, where I continued to minister for the Lord as a teacher."
Longview Christian Academy and Texas Baptist College, Longview, Texas [1981-1985]
"1981 we moved to Longview, Texas, where I took position teaching science and math at Longview Christian Academy and at Texas Baptist College." Today, LCA is a K-5 - 12th grade school that uses A Beka creationist curriculum. The entirety of "Texas Baptist College" is a single building that houses the dormitories, classrooms, library (if any), and laundry. Married students are forced to enroll their children in the unaccredited "Christian Academy."
Calvary Baptist Christian School, Fairfield, California [1986-1989]
"... we moved the family to Fairfield, California, where I became Assistant Pastor and principal at Calvary Baptist Christian School as well as a science teacher." This school has a current enrollment Pre-kinder to 12th grade of 59 students. The most students they ever had was 149. EVER!
East Hill Christian School, Pensacola, Florida [1989-?].
This is another church school created by Hovind. (A commenter, JohnLake has posted that
East Hill Christian School was founded in 1958. They expanded to a K-12 in 1987. This of course raises the question of how long did Hovind teach there?)
"In 1989, I took a vow of poverty and to commit all my resources to spreading the word of God and truth about God’s hand in creation. That event gave birth to Creation Science Evangelism."
Hovind went on to boast that he was soon on the road giving lectures, sermons, and debates nearly full-time. Hovind verbally amended his biography in several videos recorded in the early 2000s to add 16 years after 1989 as a full time evangelist. In his 1991 "dissertation," Hovind claimed to be making 400 creationism presentations to schools and churches around the nation. He filed a fraudulent bankruptcy petition in 1996 claiming to have been a full time evangelist since 1989. There is also the question of "academic years, versus "calendar years." For example, Hovind's first teaching was at a church school he started in 1976 and left in 1978. That could be counted as 3 calendar years, but only 2 academic years: Sept. 1976 to June 1977, and Sept. 1977 to June 1978. Even giving Hovind the broadest interpretation, and allowing him the sham title of "science teacher," 1976 to 1989 is not 15 years.
Kent Hovind's "Doctorate"
Hovind claims
a doctorate in "Christian Education." Hovind's dissertation is a bad joke written at a low high school grammar and vocabulary level. This vacuous work was sold to Hovind from
"Patriot University," an unaccredited mail order degree shop.
In fact, Patriot U. has had to publish the following disclaimer regarding their "degrees."
DISCLAIMER
ACI accreditation (Accrediting Commission International which is as phony as Patriot U. and has been successfully sued for fraud) is not to be confused with regional accreditation which is governed by the U.S. Department of Education. A school or employer which requires a regionally accredited degree will likely not accept a non-governmentally accredited degree. Patriot Bible University nor ACI are responsible for a student's employability.
Student Advisory:
1. PBU's accreditation may or may not allow you to receive transfer credits to a secular school. If you are seeking a secular education degree, you would be best served to attend a secular institution. We grant Bible and religious degrees. If you hope to apply your Bible degree towards a secular degree at some time later on, the PBU courses and degrees are not likely to be fully applicable.
If you are going to seek employment with a particular church denomination or wish to transfer to a certain Christian college or university, you might confer with them first. Please consider what YOUR educational goals are.
2. A Patriot Bible University degree is recognized by many churches and ministry organizations. It will demonstrate to employers a higher level of study through the attainment of a degree. We have trained thousands of students during the last 30 years.
3. PBU's accreditation with this agency is a religious non-governmental accreditation, rather than secular - voluntary, rather than mandatory. The laws of Colorado give us the authority to grant religious degrees. The authority to grant degrees comes from the individual State, not the school's accrediting agency.
4. ACI monitors educational and religious standards for PBU, and their accreditation is accepted by many religious organizations. However, this accreditation would not be accepted by some secular organizations, as ACI is not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the seven official regional accrediting agencies.
This non-recognition may have some implications that include, but are not limited to:
1. Patriot Bible University is not eligible to participate in the Federal Student Loan/Financial Aid program.
2. Patriot Bible University is not authorized to accept the GI Bill.
3. Patriot Bible University is unable to guarantee acceptance of its degrees in other postsecondary institutions, except those also accredited by ACI
4. Corporations are not required to recognize degrees from Patriot Bible University.
(down loaded on 8 April, 2013 from Patriot U.'s website).
I downloaded Hovind's "dissertation" from wikileaks. To anyone familiar with Hovind's videos, the text will be very familiar. It is in most ways a transcript of Hovind's standard presentations. I am always impressed by how consistently bad it is.
Kent Hovind's Current Career
Kent Hovind, Federal Prisoner Register number 06452-017, began serving a ten-year prison sentence in 2007 following his conviction on 12 tax fraud offenses, one count of obstructing federal agents, and 45 counts of illegally structuring cash transactions. He is scheduled for release from prison on August 11, 2015 after serving the minimum allowed portion of his 10 year sentence. If you have a taste for court documents,
this court's reply (PDF) to a petition filed by Jo (Mrs. Kent) Hovind gives the business structure of Kent Hovind's fortune.
Recently, Patriot Bible University has sold another doctorate to Kent Hovind. He has claimed to have gotten two masters and three doctorates in education, theology, and divinity (honorary). He now claims to have added a doctorate in "biblical ministry."
His most recent 'dissertation' titled "What on Earth is about to happen for Heaven's Sake," is available on-line as a PDF. I think it is better to Google for a current URL in case there are copy right issues.
Obviously Kent Hovind's account of his "doctorate" and "15 years teaching high school science" are as bogus as his creationism, and tax filings. As the courts found repeatedly, the numbers don't add up.
Kent Hovind released to Home Confinement, July 8, 2015.
There are several people who have been writing detailed reviews and assessments of Kent Hovind's legal woes. Rather than rehash what they have documented, I suggest you read their sites. Two I particularly recommend are
Hovindology, and income tax expert Peter J Reilly. Mr. Reilly has two separate blogs,
one for Forbes dot Com, and
"Your Tax Matters Partner."
Kent Hovind is fresh out of prison. He has a one month home confinement up in August 2015. However, he has wasted no time in posting
YouTube videos that
contain many of his old lies. The first is of course that he "was a high school science and math teacher for 15 years."
