 Royals of Ecclesia College | |
| Type | Privatework college |
|---|---|
| Established | 1975 |
Religious affiliation | EvangelicalChristianity |
| President | Randall E. Bell |
| Students | 178 FTE (Fall 2013) |
| Location | ,, United States 36°12′51″N94°14′12″W / 36.21409°N 94.23677°W /36.21409; -94.23677 |
| Campus | Rural |
Sporting affiliations | NCCAA Division I – Central |
| Mascot | Royals |
| Website | www |
 | |
Ecclesia College is aprivateevangelicalChristianwork college inSpringdale, Arkansas. It isaccredited by theAssociation for Biblical Higher Education. The college was founded in 1975 by Oren Paris II, the college's first chancellor and the father of recording artistTwila Paris. The college's name is derived from theLatin wordecclesia, derived in turn from theAncient Greek term ἐκκλησία which means "called-out ones". It was used inancient Greece to describe those who had been called out from general society to come aside and discuss the affairs of state; it is commonly translated as "church" or "assembly".
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On January 4, 2017, Arkansas legislatorMicah Neal pleaded guilty to conspiring to direct $600,000 in state government funds to Ecclesia College and another non-profit in exchange for $38,000 in bribes.[1] The plea agreement also singled out the president of the college (Oren Paris III) as being directly involved with the conspiracy.[2]
On March 2, 2017, former State Senator,Jon Woods, was indicted on 13 charges by a grand jury in connection to the kickback and bribery scheme. He faced 11 counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of honest services mail fraud. The indictment outlined the scheme to steer General Improvement Fund money from the state legislature to projects supported through funding distributed by the Northwest Arkansas Development District. The indictment also named the president of Ecclesia College in Springdale, Oren Paris III, who is facing nine counts of honest services wire fraud and one count of honest services mail fraud after receiving funding from GIF monies. The college is not listed in the indictment. An Alma man, Randell G. Shelton Jr., is also listed in the indictment as part of an unnamed consulting company that was used to pay and conceal the kickbacks that Woods and Neal were allegedly receiving.
Both Shelton and Paris initially pleaded not guilty during arraignment hearings.[3] Paris changed his plea to guilty on April 4, 2018, and resigned as president of Ecclesia College.[4]
Ecclesia College receives institutional accreditation for higher education with theAssociation for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) and has been accredited by ABHE since 2005. Ecclesia is also approved by the Arkansas Course Transfer System (ACTS) which allows a student to transfer their transferable hours from Ecclesia to any college or university in the state of Arkansas.
