John Gray wants everyone to know he can legally call himself “doctor.”
The relationship guru’s lawyer faxed CultNews a letter that says, “Dr. Gray received his Ph.D. from Columbia Pacific University (‘CPU’) in 1982. The school, though unaccredited, was then, and continued to be for the next 15 years, a State California –approved university.”
Of course within the lawyer’s carefully parsed language he doesn’t mention that in 1997 the California Attorney General closed CPU down and called it a “diploma mill” that issued “worthless” degrees.
This means that though Gray’s “Ph.D.” is essentially “worthless” and/or useless according to accreditation authorities such as World Education Services (WES) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation it is permissible for him to call himself “doctor.”
But no accredited institution of higher learning would take such a Ph.D. seriously, nor does it allow Gray to become a state licensed mental health or marriage and family-counseling professional, which he is not.
Many professionals like to reminisce about their college days at “Ivy League” schools like Harvard, Yale and Princeton, but it’s doubtful that Mr. Gray will ever hold forth about his glory days at old CPU, an institution that featured so-called “long-distance learning.”
CultNews previously reported that Gray’s personal assistant Rosalinda Lynch stated that he attended “Maharishi University of Management in Iowa” (MUM), even though that school said he never attended.
Gray’s attorney wants everyone to know, “Ms. Lynch made a statement…apparently confusing MUM with MERU [Maharishi Research University of Switzerland]…she had not reviewed the matter with Dr. Gray in advance.”
Ms. Lynch seems willing to take responsibility for her mistakes.
But what about her boss?
In an effort to explain away John Gray’s professional membership in the American Counseling Association (ACA), which requires at least an accredited Masters degree, his lawyer offers that Gray “fulfills the requirements of a regular member.”
However, Gray is not a “regular member” of the ACA.
What’s next, will Ms. Lynch take responsibility for mistakes on Gray’s ACA application?
Mr. Gray’s attorney tacitly admits that Gray’s only college degrees, other than an honorary doctorate, come from unaccredited schools.
Nevertheless John Gray can technically and legally use the title of “Dr.”
However, other than a prefix to satisfy his ego, it doesn’t seem to be worth much of anything. And the people who buy books by “Dr. Gray” should know that.
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