Lions University

In Name Only

Lions University came into being during the Fall of 2014  and  it was  not  until  three years  later  that it  became  a  blip  on  my  radar. What a coincidence, I thought, a university with the same name as our be-loved organization. I wondered why I had never seen their name in football or basketball scores.  Perhaps they are principally dedicated  to achieve  academic  excellence.  I was wrong on all counts.

I was surprised after a little more probing that Lions University is not a traditional corporate university at all. While they do adhere to that fact with a rather lame disclaimer, they seem perfectly content to continue their course  and pretend that they are. They lure a constant stream of Lions  members to participate in a leadership curriculum of three program levels, and upon completion of the required courses, the graduates are bestowed with their coveted degree, be it Bachelors, Masters or Doctorate.

But in order to fully qualify for their award, they are also  required  to attend, at their expense, a  forum  that is designated in a different area each year.

For anyone who has attended a traditional college or university, one is fully aware of the demanding study needs,  many times into the wee hours of the morning, not to mention the massive infusions of caffeine to keep from nodding off during an important test or lecture.

Needless to say, there are many sacrifices to be made to get to graduation day. Even a two-year investment to attain an Associates of Arts degree is much more demanding than supposedly earning a Doctorate from Lions University. I have it from reliable sources  that one can work  it so that all three degrees  from  Lions University  can be  accomplished  in less  than  a month of studies.

This is certainly not intended to be  criticism of the goals  of the  program to make  Lions  members better leaders of  tomorrow. With comprehensive training intended to instill leadership skills,  L.U. seems to be meeting that  goal.  LCI  is,  however,  remiss in setting it up as  it now stands. Did they not think, for example, that the name LIONS ACADEMY would be more accurate than maintaining the sham of a “university ?” Achievement  awards could again, for example, be designated as “Basic”, “Intermediate” & “Advanced.” And the requirement of  attending a forum should be eliminated, for  it seems  that the purpose is to obtain a larger number of forum attendees.

Finally, there is a problem with the  content in one of the courses for the L.U. Bachelors degree.  History 101 is  a  required course,  and  while it deals with the history of  Lions Clubs International, an hour long CD also informs the listener  how the structure of founding came  about. As with all the official  Lions  Clubs  sources,  June  7, 1917, is presented as the date that Melvin Jones in Chicago  hosted  a number of clubs and civic minded leaders  from different parts of the country, including Dr. Woods from Evansville, Indiana. The CD states that Dr. Woods turned over all claim and title of the Lions name to Melvin Jones in return that Mr. Jones would assure that Dr. Woods would be elected president at the Dallas Convention of October 8-9-10, 1917.  Melvin Jones was NOT a Lions member at that time, and Dr. Woods turned over all ownership titles of his clubs to the Lions delegates at the Dallas Convention of which he presided. Melvin Jones’ 11-page dissertation of his version of the founding did not contain this episode.

Despite concerns and significant criticism from Lions  Clubs members at large as to the structuring of L.U., it appears certain that Lions Clubs International is determined to stay the course and will provide little more than lip service to fend off any and all changes that  are brought to their attention.