Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona vowed to shut down Arizona’s Grand Canyon University—the largest Christian college in the nation—because he deems it “a predatory for-profit school,” but Arizona state Superintendent Tom Horne thinks they’re going too far. He called the threat just “the latest episode of harassment.”
“It is unwarranted and unjust,” he said Friday. “In the U.S., anyone accused of wrongdoing is presumed innocent and entitled to their day in court. Secretary Cardona’s threat is contrary to those constitutional guarantees and unworthy of his position.”
Grand Canyon University is the largest Christian University in America—so naturally Joe Biden wants to destroy it.
And it’s right in the heart of @RubenGallego’s district.
Vote Trump🇺🇸
Vote Lake for US Senate🇺🇸
Save America!🇺🇸 https://t.co/keJUkMdnhs— Kari Lake (@KariLake) April 19, 2024
Cardona appeared before the House Appropriations Committee on April 10 and accused the university of cheating its students:
“They have flashy marketing materials, but the product is not worth the paper it is printed on. Increased enforcement budget to go after these folks and crack down. Levied largest fine in history against a school that lied about costs and terminated a school from Title IV. We are cracking down not only to shut them down, but to send a message not to prey on students,” Cardona responded [to a question from Rep. Rosa DeLauro, (D-CT).]
GCU President Brian Mueller said he believed the matter could end up at the Supreme Court, adding:
We are very, very universally loved and respected in the state of Arizona on both sides of the aisle.
This thing is absolutely not political for us. There’s a small group of people in Washington, D.C., in the Department of Education and the Federal Trade Commission, but none of the allegations that they’re lobbing are corroborated any place else.
If you don’t think there is a war on Christianity by the Biden administration you have not been paying attention. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona vowed to shut down Grand Canyon University the largest Christian university in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/SvkZ8xsNJ6
— Riverrat328 (@riverrat328) April 18, 2024
Washington Examiner columnist Jeremiah Poff agreed and pointed out that this is just another sign of anti-Christian sentiment emanating from the White House:
By saying that his goal is to shut down Grand Canyon University, Cardona essentially is admitting that he and the Biden administration levied the fine against the university because they harbor a personal vendetta against the college and have little regard for the good of the thousands of students that attend it.
The root of this animosity is twofold. First, Grand Canyon University is arguably the most successful Christian institution of higher education in the nation and has a conservative lean. The school currently has more than 100,000 students enrolled through its online and in-person programs. Secondly, the Biden administration has been openly hostile to for-profit colleges, and the university was a for-profit school for a number of years before switching to non-profit status. This change in tax status was recognized by every single relevant agency except for the Department of Education and the Federal Trade Commission. Coincidentally, both agencies have open investigations into the school.
To my mind, the DOE should be looking into Ivy League schools, which are charging up to $85,000 a year to offer classes on social justice and Why America Is Terrible. Now that is predatory education.
