Sequoia University was an unaccredited higher education institution in Los Angeles, California, which acquired a reputation as a prolific "degree mill" selling degree certificates. Although it was apparently shut down in 1984 by a court order, it appears on a short list of bogus educational institutions issued by the FBI in 1986. It is most notable today as the institution from which Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard obtained an honorary "Doctorate of Philosophy" in the 1950s.
In 2009, the British government released a series of documents from the California Department of Education stating that Sequoia was never approved nor recognized as a school.
Ownership and operations The "university" was originally known as the College of Drugless Healing. Despite claims that it operated strictly through a post office box and delivered mail-order doctorates without classes or exams,Paulette Cooper, The Scandal of Scientology, chapter 20. Tower Publications, Inc, 1971 it actually had a number of locations and classes through its storied history. It was unofficially founded in 1950 by psychologist David Seabury, who was both its President and also had an honorary PhD from Sequoia University."Who’s Who on the Pacific Coast: A Biographical Dictionary of Noteworthy Men and Women of the Pacific Coastal and Western States", "Marquis Who’s Who", “Seabury, David”, 1951, page 589, Chicago: The A.N. Marquis Company."Who’s Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women, 1952–1953", "Marquis Who’s Who", “Seabury, David”, Vol. 27, page 2164, Chicago: The A.N. Marquis Company."Who’s Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women, 1954–1955", "Marquis Who’s Who", "Seabury, David”, Vol. 28, page 2387, Chicago: Marquis – Who’s Who.
Sequoia University initially operated in combination with Seabury University at 535 S. Hoover, Room 426 from 1950."Los Angeles Street Address Directory", "The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company", 1950, page 334, Los Angeles: The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, June 22, 1950"Los Angeles Street Address Directory", "The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company", 1951, pages 324, 334, 816, Los Angeles: The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, June 22, 1951. Both Sequoia University Press and graduation ceremonies were also held at 5617 Hollywood Blvd, Room 103."Los Angeles Street Address Directory", "The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company", 1951, pages 324, 334, 816, Los Angeles: The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, June 22, 1951.Spache, George Daniel, "Toward Better Reading," 1963, pages 271 and 459, Champaign, Illinois: Garrard Publishing Company.Hodder, Velma, "A Position Paper on The Teaching of Reading (Developmental and Corrective)", 1965, page A-24, Lincoln, Nebraska: Nebraska State Department of Education. It also had a satellite location at 2610 W. 8th, Room 3 in 1951."Los Angeles Street Address Directory", "The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company", 1951, pages 324, 334, 816, Los Angeles: The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, June 22, 1951. It later relocated to 920 S. Grandview St. in 1952."Los Angeles Street Address Directory", "The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company", 1952, page 281, Los Angeles: The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, January 31, 1952.
It officially changed its name to Sequoia University on August 20, 1952,Hough, Joseph W. and Gladys M. Hough, “Certificate of Amendment of Articles of Incorporation: Exhibit A”, Los Angeles, Franchise Tax Board, August 20, 1952. and became ratified on August 27, 1952 under a chiropodist named Joseph Hough.Hough, Joseph W. and Gladys M. Hough, “Certificate of Amendment of Articles of Incorporation”, Los Angeles, Franchise Tax Board, August 27, 1952. It relocated to his home at 915 S. Grandview, from 1952-1956."Los Angeles Street Address Directory", "The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company", 1953, page 297, Los Angeles: The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, June 12, 1953 In 1956, it eventually moved to 5625 Melrose Avenue."Los Angeles Street Address Directory", "The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company", 1956, pages 317 and 506, Los Angeles: The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company,February 15, 1956.
The university also had various departments: a library,Cunningham, Frank, "Knight of the Confederacy, Gen. Turner Ashby", 1960, page xiii, San Antonio, TX: The Naylor Company a Slavic studies department,California Institute of Technology, Engineering and Science Department, “Faculty Changes”, 1962, pages 24-29, volume 26, number 1, Pasadena, CA: California Institute of Technology, Alumni Association. Russian, Spanish and other languages,The Los Angeles Times, "Career Training," page 14, April 22, 1951.California Institute of Technology, "Bulletin of the California Institute of Technology: Information for Students 1970/1971", 1970, page 64, volume 79, number 3, Pasadena, CA: California Institute of Technology. psychology and psychotherapy,McDonnell, William H., ed., Suburbanite Economist (Chicago), “Retired Ballet Dancer Weds Doctor in Hollywood Church”, page 8, September 18, 1955.Tampa Bay Times, “Psychologist to Address Health Forum”, page 27, February 3, 1957. and others. Hough's own doctorate was said to have been bogus, reportedly having been purchased from the unaccredited Free University of Mexico in 1938. He was investigated in 1957 by a California State Assembly investigation into degree mills operating in the state, but took the Fifth Amendment 22 times in the course of his testimony and refused to divulge information about Sequoia's activities."Diploma Witness Won’t Talk", Los Angeles Mirror News, October 23, 1957
During a legal crackdown on unaccredited Californian educational institutions in 1984, a Los Angeles judge issued a permanent injunction ordering it to cease operating "until it complies with the state education laws."John B. Bear and Mariah P. Bear, Bears' Guide to Earning College Degrees Nontraditionally, p.331 Ten Speed Press, 2003. At the time it had outlets in both California and Oklahoma, and was still offering degrees in osteopathic medicine, religious studies, hydrotherapy, and physical sciences. Among the affected was the Federal government as evidenced by a citation proclaimed by the United States House of Representatives in hearings held in 1986, in which Sequoia was mentioned as one of a number of degree mills from which Federal employees had bought false credentials."Fraudulent Credentials: Federal Employees", House Select Committee on Aging. Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care, 1986
Notable alumni
L. Ron Hubbard In the early 1950s, L. Ron Hubbard established himself in London at the head of the newly founded Hubbard Association of Scientologists International. Hubbard appears to have already had a relationship with Hough, as Scientologists found themselves being given Ph.Ds from the "university." On February 27, 1953, Hubbard cabled his associate Richard de Mille (a relative of the famous filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille) to instruct him to purchase a Ph.D. in Hubbard's name. Shortly afterwards, Hubbard received a "Doctorate of Philosophy" from Sequoia, along with a "D. Scn" (Doctorate of Scientology) which he appears to have bestowed upon himself.Russell Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, chapter 12. Michael Joseph Ltd, 1987 The degree subsequently became a key part of his self-promotional efforts. Hubbard began referring to himself as "L. Ron Hubbard, Ph.D., C.E."Hubbard, "Professional Auditor's Bulletin No. 87", June 5, 1956 (the C.E. referring to an equally unearned civil engineering qualification supposedly obtained from George Washington University, from which he had dropped out in his second year of studies). He presented it as evidence of his scientific qualifications, calling himself "Doctor Hubbard".Hubbard, "PE Handout" , HCO Information Letter of 14 April 1961. Reprinted in the Organization Executive Course volume 6.
Hubbard also envisaged using Sequoia to bestow a variety of "degrees" on students of his proposed "Freudian Foundation of America", a scheme which he put forward in April 1953 but which apparently never got off the ground. The students would have received certificates from Sequoia accrediting them as "Bachelor of Scientology," "Doctor of Scientology," "Freudian Psycho-analyst," and "Doctor of Divinity," among other qualifications.Jon Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky , part 3 chapter 5. Lyle Stuart, 1990 He may have abandoned the idea for legal reasons.Hubbard, "Associate Newsletter No. 4", ca. May 1953. Reprinted in Technical Volumes of Dianetics & Scientology, vol. 1
Public attention was drawn to Hubbard's "degree" by the Anderson Report of 1965, published in Victoria, Australia. The board of enquiry that produced the report was suspicious of the degree's validity and, in its words,
The question of the degree also attracted comment in the British press, forcing Hubbard onto the defensive. He issued a policy letter in February 1966 defending his degree: "I was a Ph.D., Sequoia's University and therefore a perfectly valid doctor under the laws of the State of California". The latter claim was not true, as Sequoia had never been accredited by the State, nor had it any chance of being — as Christopher Evans notes, it "used to be well known to quacks on the West Coast as a degree mill where 'qualifications' could be bought for suitable sums."Christopher Evans, Cults of Unreason, p. 21. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973 Hubbard announced that henceforth the title of "Doctor" would no longer be used within Scientology, as "the name has been disgraced" due to "the abuses and murders carried out under the title of 'doctor'" (a reference to his hatred of psychiatry).Hubbard, "Doctor Title Abolished", HCO Policy Letter of 14 February 1966. Reprinted in Organization Executive Course volume 2 A few weeks later, Hubbard publicly disclaimed his Sequoia degree in an advertisement in the personal column of The Times.Hubbard, in The Times, March 8, 1966; cited in Christopher Evans, Cults of Unreason, p. 21. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973 However, even after this disavowal Hubbard continued to cite the Sequoia-issued Ph.D. In an interview with Rhodesian television in April 1966, he told the interviewer: "Actually I have a degree in philosophy, a Doctor of Philosophy".Hubbard, in Introduction to Scientology (interview of April 1966); quoted in Expand! magazine, issue 21, 1973, p. 11. Similarly, biographies published by the Church of Scientology also continued to mention the "doctorate"; the 1973 book Mission Into Time, being an example.Hubbard, Mission into Time, p. 16. American Saint Hill Organization, Los Angeles, 1973
Forrest J. Ackerman L. Ron Hubbard's literary agent Forrest J Ackerman received a diploma from Sequoia University in April 1969, which named him a Fellow of the Sequoia Research Institute.
Kelly Segraves Sequoia University is also part of a controversy surrounding the credentials of Kelly Segraves, director of the Creation Science Research Center, a creationist organization. Segraves claims to have received a Master's degree from Sequoia University in 1972 and has been criticized over the institution's lack of academic credentials."Some Questionable Creationist Credentials", TalkOrigins Archive, May 31, 2002. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
Richard de Mille In 1953, then-Scientologist Richard de Mille was an associate professor at Sequoia University. He taught at the Department of Scientology.
Paul Reps In 1951, American zen poet Paul Reps published his second book "Unknot The World In You" through Sequoia University Press.
David B. Steinman Sequoia awarded an honorary Doctor of Science in Engineering to David B. Steinman received on April 15, 1952.
David Seabury